Archaeological methods

anthropological archaeology

scientifically studies material evidence of past human activity

archaeological theory

the set of concepts and assumptions used to interpret evidence

information from graves

Provide evidence about the living community as well as the deceased. Grave goods do not reliably establish a person’s sex, gender, occuption, or identity

antiquarian collecting

helped popularize interest, but many early collectors prioritized attractive objected over context, used inconsistent recording methods, and made unsupported claims

King Nabonidus of Babylon

regined approximately 556-539BCE, investigated older monuments and material associated with King Naram-sin who ruled from 2254-2218BC

Leonard Woolley

excaved in Nuva, plaestine, egypt ad found the city of Ur, found royal tombs and palaces datig to 5000BC

Ennigaldi’s Museum

Ur, Mesopotamia found by Leonard Woolley when excavating in Ur found this room containing thousands of artifcats dating to different periods and had labels in different langauges, suggesting archaeology was present in Ur for over 2000 years

Ennigaldi-nanna

daughter of nabondius, curated his muesem

Shinchi Fujimura

Japanese amateur archaeologist who was exposed in 2000 for planting artifacts at sites. Scandal showed by independent verification, transparent records, reproducible methods, and professional ethics matter

fossil

preserved evidence of past life, including body remains, impressions, traces, or chemical signatures, generally older than 10000 years

body fossils

the actual physical remains themselves or impressions

trace fossils

not the organisms themselves, but represent activity (ex. footprint)

chemical fossils

preserved organic compounds found in ancient rocks or strata

3 main categories of fossils

body fossils, trace fossils, and chemical fossils

bias of fossil record

Soft tissues usually decay; remains can be disarticulated, destroyed by erosion and geological processes. The record depends on where researchers have searcher and which formations survived

factors that favour fossilization

rapid burial/entombment, low oxygen, continued sediment accumlation, absence of excessive heating or compression, then they must be found

fossil laboratory work

can include cleaning stabilizing fossils, microscopic, examination, CT scanning, measurement, comparison with other specimens, and reconstructions

endocast

a natural or artificial cast of the inside of a skull, it can reveal aspects of the braincase shape but does not directly preserve the brain or prove specific behaviours

archaeological site

place where physical evidence of past activity occurs

funcitonal categories of sites

habitation sites, procure sites, processing sites, sacred/ritual sites, and specialized sites such as markets, defensive structures, and burial groups

taphonomy

studies what happens to remains between an organism’s death and their discovery, considers decomposition, scavenging, trampling, transport, burial, chemcial change, and excavation or recovery processes

primary refuse

material is left where it was used, lost or discarded

secondary refuse

material moved from its orignal use location to another place, such as a dump

Michael Schiffer’s formation-process approach

distinguishes human behaviour and use. We should analyze sites using 3 elements: observed material evidence, unobserved human activity, explanation of human activity

Pompeii complex

Pompeii was buried in ash, everything was left exactly as it was Gisueppe Fiorelli noticed voids left and he excavated these voids and found bodies

finding sites

Field walking, aerial photography, satellite imagery and infrared technology, laser technology

fieldwalking

researcher walk systematic transects and record visible artifacts or features

aerial photography

cameras aref fixed to the bottom of plane and the pictures reviewed afterwards, looks at topical variation, reveals things you cannot see from the ground

Satellite imagery and infrared technology

identifies changes in material density and inferred heat in archaeological features compared to surroundings

LiDAR

stands for light detection and ranging, to measure distances and create precise, three-dimensional maps of objects and environments

Research designs

begins with a clear question, literature review, review of prior excavations, justification of costs and impacts, a sampling plan, permits, consultation, nad a plan for conservation and publication

excavation units

horizontal areas that are carefully and systematically opened

4 approaches of excavation units

grid, random, strategiec/intutive, and stratified grib

grid sampling

divide a site into mapped units and select units according to a planned pattern

random sampling

choose units by a random procedure, it reduces deliberate selection bias but can miss rare features

stratified sampling

divide a site into meaningful zones and sample each zone

strategic sampling

targets areas expected to be informative, can be effient but is dependent on researcher’s assumptions

approaches to excavation

arbitrary unit sizes and architectural unit size

abitrary units

have standardized dimensions, are useful when no visible architectural features guide excavation

Architectural units

based on observig architectural zones of predesigned structures

two ways to approach digging

vertical and horizonal

vertical digging approach

from top to bottom, see layers that represent different time periods, each layer is examined

horizontal digging approach

opens broader areas to understand activities and spatial relationships during a particular period

block excavation

removes soil systematically with no divison between units

baulk excavation

remove soil but keeps walls between units

pedestal excavation

generally applies to human remains sites, mass graves, excavated in such a way that proper evidence can be obtained

screening soil

helps recover small artifacts, teeth, bones, seeds, and other remains. Fine screening may be needed for tiny or lightweight materials

stratigraphy

study of strata or layers

who created straigraphy

William Strata Smith

type of dating method of stratigraphy

relative dating

Harris Matrices

recognizes 3 relationships between units: no relationship, a relationship of superposition, or a correlated relationship

superposition

what is above something or what is below something

types of dating methods

relative dating, numerical dating, radiocarbon dating, fission-track dating, amino-acid racemization, paleomagnetic dating, electron-spin resonance, and thermoluminescence

relative dating

establishes whether something is older, younger, or contemporaneous with something else

relatie dating methods

stratigraphic superposition, geological correlation, biostratigraphy, and cultural dating

absolute dating

estimates age in years

types of absolute dating methods

dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, radiopotassium dating , fission track dating, amino acid dating, paleomagnetic dating, electron spin resonanace, thermoluminesence

chemical dating

dating method that uses predictable chemical changes that occur overtime

fluorine dating

chemical dating method that compares the accumlation of fluorine in animal and human bones from the same site

biostratigaphic dating

a relative dating method that uses the association of fossils in strata to determine each layers approximate age

cultural dating

a relative dating method that is based on the time spans of material remains

dendrochronology

a chronometric dating method that uses a tree-ring count to determine numerical age

radiocarbon dating

the ratio of ¹⁴C to ¹²C isotopes is measure to provide an absolute date for material younger than 5000 years

radiopotassium dating

ratio of ⁴⁰K to ⁴⁰ Ar is measured to provide an absolute date for a material older than 200,000 years

fission track dating

an absolute dating method based on the measurement of tracks left by the decay of ²³⁸U

amino acid dating

an absolute dating method for organic remains in which the amount of change in the amino acid structure is measured

paleomagnetic dating

an absolute dating method based on the reversals of earth’s magnetic field

electron spin resonance dating

an absolute dating method that uses microwave spectroscopy to measure electron spins in various materials

thermoluminescnee dating

an absolute dating method in which the energy trapped in a material is measured when the object is heated

genomic dating

based on the entire genome

Lagerstatten

deposits with exceptional fossil preservation

fossil reconstruction

uses anatomy and estimates of soft tissue to create a plausible model, it is an informed interpretation

good archaeological practice includes

safety planning, permits, trained staffing, site security, conservation, long-term curation, reporting, publication, sharing results with descendants and local communities

importance of the 1970s-1980s excavation of the cyrpt at christ chruch, spitalfields, london

highlighted the occupational hazards including lead exposure from coffins and biological risks