MIDTERM Archaeology - Class Notes

cult archaeology

the use of archaeology to justify and reinforce specific meanings, symbolism, identities, and confirmations of eccentric beliefs

• Pseudo-scientific, fantasy-based

• Unscientific “archaeology” abounds and operates like a social movement

  • Social movement = a loosely-organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one

characteristics:

• Sensationalism deriving from fantastic stories

• Sense of self-importance in proponents including narcissism, delusions of grandeur, paranoia, martyrdom

• Misuse of logic and evidence

• Misunderstanding or evasion of the scientific method

• Internal contradictions in proposed arguments

psychic archaeology

paranormal ideas infused into archaeological method and interpretation (e.g. ley lines)

• e.g. von Däniken describes ancient Egyptians as unable to build pyramids without help from advanced aliens, but psychic archaeologists promote Egyptians as possessing great wisdom and magic powers that have been lost to modern humans (pyramidology)

folk archaeology

unscientific hypotheses of untrained amateurs, pursued because of cultural reinforcements

• Legendary stories supported by socio-cultural reinforcement

• Kensington Rune Stone discovery in 1898 in Minnesota led to the belief that Vikings (Norse) explored the area in the 14th century AD

  • Inscription describes visit of Vinland Norse in 1362; they were probably attacked by native American groups

  • Other evidence: interbreeding with Mandans to create light complexion; finds of other artifacts

Kensington rune stone

1. Rune letters were not 14th century, but later, 18th and even more recent

2. Some words were not used in the 14th century, and grammar was more similar to 19th century Scandinavian dialects

3. The stone itself is graywacke, a hard sandstone that is brittle and challenging to carve; edges of the carvings are sharp and fresh

a. A major question about authenticity is to what extent weathering over 660 years would round out the edges of incisions and reduce the relief of the carvings

illicit archaeology

unlawful recovery, theft, and trafficking of archaeological artifacts for commercial gain

• Destructive, market-driven theft and sale of antiquities

Geldermalsen

example of illicit archaeology

• Sinking of the ship on January 3, 1752

• Unethical and unscientific removal of goods from seabed with no records/documentation

• Obstruction of access to study once in storage (Jörg had from December 1985 to April 1986)

• Dealers advertised to wealthy art collectors to sell as quickly as possible

• Quandary of museums on whether to adhere to UNESCO rules not to acquire stolen artifacts

diagenesis

the physical and chemical changes. that affect deposited materials after burial and before discovery

taphonomy

the study of how things come to be buried underground, particularly animal remains

• processes leading to burial (distinguish from taxonomy)

Dilettanti

a group of people concentrating materials to acquire and study; generally from Southern Europe, especially Italy

atoll

a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon

• eg. in Micronesia

in situ

in its original position; not having been moved or disturbed

Franz Boaz

Archaeologist

• Evidence > theory

• Among first to go into Arctic and live with Inuit

• Rejected unilineality → Inuit (New World Arctic people) have much different lifestyle than Old World Arctic peoples

  • Induction: look at lots of data to find patterns

  • Deduction: extract testable implications from an idea

    • eg. if correct, what should I find when I go looking for it?

    • Most scientific reasoning

V Gordon Childe

Archaeologist

• systematic interpretation of cultural development using trait lists; some interpretation (Oasis Theory) that could be tested

  • Trait lists to characterize cultural evolution

site formation processes

what forces led to the creation of an archaeological deposit

matrix

nature of the enclosing soil

• Not dirt — soil or sediment that forms a deposit

• Soil: naturally-growing profile of layers/horizons

• Sediment: mixed loose material piled up through alluvial forces

provenience

findspot

precise location of an object upon discovery

provenance

location of discard, location of use, location of manufacture, location of raw materials (chaîne opératoire)

scientific method

1. Research design: prior literature and knowledge of cultural material; what problems need solving; apply for permit; scientific plan; staff and budget; obtain cooperation of specialists

2. Data collection: equipment; preparedness for the unexpected; conservation capability; record keeping; survey and excavation components; sampling

3. Analysis: coordinating specialized investigations on finds; ability to synthesize and interpret; results of analyses feed back into new field testing

4. Publication

material culture

material remains of cultural behavior

cultural processes

changes of cultural systems over time, sometimes very long intervals

site

a location where evidence of human activity is preserved

• Components (tells)

• Classified by various criteria:

  • Types of artifacts found

  • Stratification

  • Topographic/geographic associations

culture

that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habit acquired by man as a member of society (E.B. Tylor, late 19th century)

a configuration of ideas, behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are learned as a member of a particular society, and shared and transmitted symbolically through the vehicle of language (Ralph Linton, 1945)

the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group (Merriam-Webster)

civilization

a term applied to any society that has developed a writing system, government, production of surplus food, division of labor, and urbanization; difficult to define because not all 'civilizations' include every one of the above facets; often used, therefore, to suggest a highly developed culture (World History Encyclopedia)

a relatively high level of cultural and technological development, specifically: the stage of cultural development at which writing and the keeping of written records is attained (Merriam-Webster)

any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language, namely, a writing system (Wikipedia)

stratigraphic dating

superposition

• Must be attentive to disturbances caused by pitting, use of excavated fill, fossorial organisms, environmental effects (cryoturbation), erosion, etc.

seriation dating

ordering objects through time, presumption of continuous change

• Originated as sequence dating by WMF Petrie in Egypt

• 2 kinds

context seriation

evolution of morphology, object to object (Petrie)

frequency seriation

battleship curves indicating varying numbers of cases (Deetz)

cross dating

the use of trade objects (or other mobile items) as time markers linking distant findspots terminus ante quen (TAQ) v. terminus post quen (TPQ)

• TAQ: deposition must be before a certain time marker

• TPQ: deposition must be after a certain time marker

physico-chemical techniques

examples:

• Obsidian hydration — measuring the hydration rinds of freshly broken obsidian tools and debitage

  
  

• Dendrochronology — tree-ring dating by coring modern and ancient logs

  
  

• Geochronology — dating based on comparison of earth layers and their contents pollen profiles, paleofauna, lithology, etc.