Archaeology

JC HISTORY

History

Study of the past based on evidence

Prehistory

History before writing was invented

Primary Source

A source coming directly from the time being studied

Secondary Source

Source coming from after the time being studied

What are the 5 types of sources?

Written, visual, aural, oral and tactile

Archives

Collection of various sources, mainly written

Museums

collects, stores and displays artefacts

Bias

One sided opinions

Propaganda

Information used to influence people opinions

Chronology

Study of dates and time

Chronological order

Arranging dates from earliest to latest

Archaeology

Study of the past based on material remains

Artefact

Objects made by people

Chance

Maps

Aerial photographs

Old ruins

What are the 4 ways of discovering artefacts?

Why is a survey carried out before excavation?

A survey is carried out to ensure the site is worth excavating

What is a test trench?

A test trench is a hole dug to see if an area holds anything of interest

What is the process of excavation?

1) Topsoil is removed by a digger

2) artefacts are carefully excavated using a trowel and shovels

3) Dust and dirt are removed from the artefact using brushes

4) Sieves used to ensure nothing is thrown away

5) All artefacts are recorded and everything is carefully catalogued

6) Artefacts separated and sent away for lab tests

7) Once testing is complete, artefacts are often sent away to museums

Stratigraphy

An archaeological process used to determine the age of artefacts using soil layers

Dendrochronology

Archaeological process used to determine the age of wooden artefacts by carefully counting tree age rings

Radio-carbon dating

archaeological process used to determine the age of a once living thing using the amount of carbon present in its body