Scientific Archaeology

Bioarchaeology

studying the bones and teeth of the human skeleton

Cultural manifestations in the skeleton

activity markers, diet and subsistence, gender differences, the impact on them from social and cultural environments

How can identity be observed through burials

burial contexts and grave goods

DNA preservation

very little DNA past 100 thousand years and no survival after 1.5 million

Chaine Operatoire

Reconstructing the steps in the production process, understanding the materials, tools, and skills needed

Exoerimental vs experiential archaeology

Experimental - how something was achieved and how it works

Experiential - learning a technique, public engagement

Ethnoarchaeology

the study of both the present day use and significance of artefacts and structures within the living societies and the way these things are incorporated into the archaeological record

Ethnicity

a group of people on a given territory with common language and culture recognizing their unity in formations and name

Cultural relativism

social groups view and judge the world through the lens of their own culture

Cultural zone

geographical area with relatively homogeneous human activity

Four parts of ethnoarchaeology

the technical act, the subject, the production system, and the social group

The technical act

comparison between physical characteristic and ways of making it

The subject

how motor skills are acquired, how much practice and time is needed

The production system

which activities leave which types of material traces, for example, raw materials leave quarries and pits, trade leaves object distribution, etc.

The social group

Understanding the details and particularities of groups in how they organize themselves and the reflection of that in the record

Artefacts

Objects that were used, made, or modified by people

Three categories of big dats

volume, variety, and velocity

Volume

the amount of data coming from multiple sources

Variety

types of data, variety of different file types and structures

Velocity

the speed at which big data is generated

Big data in archaeology

Capacity to search, aggregate, and cross reference large data sets, universal demand to make data readily available

Where is data aggregated

open source websites, publications, museums, excavations

Proxy data

preserved physical characteristics that stand in for direct measurements

climate proxies

coral, tree rings, ice cores

environment proxies

pollen record

population fluctuation proxies

radiocarbon dates and proportion of infant burials

Downsides of big data

reduces archaeology to only quantifiable elements

Heritage

legacy from the past, what is lived with today, and what is passed on to future generations