Archaeology

Archaeology: The study of human behavior in the past; provides a long-term perspective of investigating humans from all periods to other social sciences 

Archaeological record: The physical evidence of past human activities, including artifacts, features, and sites, preserved in the ground or other environments. It serves as the primary source of data for archaeologists to reconstruct and interpret past societies and cultural developments. 

- Artifact: Any movable object that has been used, modified, or manufactured by humans; they include stone, bone, and metal tools; beads and other ornaments; pottery; artwork; religious and sacred items (also includes clothing). 

- Feature: A non-portable artifact or part of a site that was created by human activity 

Antiquarianism: the study of old and rare objects, including their history, artifacts, and monuments 

Deep time: The realization that the age of the earth and the life it supports is older than history; measurable in millions (and eventually, billions) of years 

4 goals of Americanist archaeology 

- Chronology/Culture history: Establishes the timeline of past human activities by identifying and dating artifacts, sites, and cultural sequences. 

- Past lifeways/Cultures: Reconstructs the daily lives, behaviors, and social structures of past societies based on material remains. 

- Culture Process/Theory: Examines how and why cultures change over time, often using scientific methods and theoretical models to understand human adaptation and evolution. 

- Relate to Contemporary Society: Connects archaeological findings to modern issues, promoting cultural heritage preservation, Indigenous perspectives, and public engagement. 

Subfields of anthropology 

- Cultural Anthropology: Studies contemporary human societies, cultures, and social behaviors through ethnographic research and participant observation. 

- Biological Anthropology: Examines human evolution, genetics, primatology, and biological diversity to understand human adaptation and ancestry. 

- Linguistics Anthropology: Analyzes language development, structure, and usage in different cultures, exploring its role in communication and identity. 

- Archaeology Anthropology: Investigates past human societies through material remains, artifacts, and excavation to reconstruct historical and prehistorical ways of life. 

Culture- Anthropological and archaeological 

Anthropological Culture: A learned system of beliefs, behaviors, customs, and material traits shared by a group of people, transmitted across generations. 

Archaeological Culture: The material remains and patterns of human activity that reflect past ways of life, including tools, structures, and artifacts. 

Culture as Adaptation: The idea that culture evolves as a means for humans to adapt to their environments, shaping technology, social structures, and behaviors for survival. 

Epistemology: The study of knowledge, focusing on its nature, sources, and validity, including how humans understand and interpret the world. 

Science: A systematic approach to understanding the natural and social world through observation, experimentation, and evidence-based reasoning. 

- Scientific method: A structured process of inquiry involving observation, hypothesis formation, experimentation, data analysis, and conclusion to test and refine knowledge. 

- Hypothesis: A testable and falsifiable statement or prediction about a phenomenon based on prior knowledge and observations. 

- Theory: A well-substantiated explanation of natural or social phenomena, supported by extensive evidence and repeatedly tested through scientific research. 

6 Characteristics of a scientific approach: Empirical, Systematic, Testable, Replicable, Self-Correcting, Objective 

1. Empirical: Based on observation and measurable evidence rather than personal beliefs or opinions. 

2. Systematic: Follows a structured and organized method to collect and analyze data. 

3. Testable: Hypotheses and claims must be verifiable through experimentation and observation. 

4. Replicable: Results must be repeatable by other researchers under similar conditions. 

5. Self-Correcting: Open to revision and refinement as new evidence emerges. 

6. Objective: Strives to minimize bias and personal influence in the interpretation of data. 

Pseudoscience: Claims or beliefs that appear scientific but lack empirical evidence, proper methodology, and falsifiability. 

- Pseudoscience Characteristics: Lacks peer review, relies on anecdotal evidence, is not testable or replicable, resists change despite contrary evidence, and often uses vague or exaggerated claims. 

- Confirmation bias: The tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that supports preexisting beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. 

- Pseudoscience Belief/Agendas/Fraud: Often driven by personal beliefs, ideological or financial motives, and deliberate deception rather than objective, evidence-based research. 

Fieldwork 

- Archaeological Data: Any material evidence collected during excavations, surveys, or analysis, including artifacts, features, and site contexts. 

- Field Schools: Training programs where students and researchers gain hands-on experience in archaeological excavation, surveying, and documentation techniques. 

- Archaeological Site: A location where past human activity is preserved and studied, containing artifacts, features, and other cultural materials. 

- Lithic artifacts: Stone tools and debris created through flintknapping or other stone-working techniques, used by past societies for various purposes. 

- Ceramic artifacts: Objects made from fired clay, such as pottery, figurines, and tiles, which provide insight into past cultures, trade, and daily life. 

Archaeological survey 

- Settlement pattern/Seasonal Round: The spatial distribution of human habitation and resource use over time, often influenced by environmental and seasonal factors in mobile or sedentary societies. 

- Subsurface testing: Techniques such as shovel test pits, augering, or coring used to investigate buried archaeological deposits without extensive excavation. 

- Remote sensing: Non-invasive methods, including aerial photography, LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), and satellite imaging, used to detect and map archaeological features beneath the surface. 

Excavation 

- Context: The position and association of artifacts, and features within an archaeological site, crucial for interpreting past human activities. 

- Stratigraphy: The study of soil layers (strata) and their sequence, used to establish relative dating and site formation processes. 

- Provenience – N, E, Elv: The precise three-dimensional location (Northing, Easting, and Elevation) of an artifact or feature within a site, essential for accurate documentation and analysis. 

- Levels: Artificial or natural layers of excavation used to systematically remove soil and record changes in stratigraphy and artifact distribution. 

- Grid system: A mapped framework of squares, typically in meters, used to organize excavation areas and precisely record artifact locations. 

- Datum: A fixed reference point at a site used for measuring elevations and spatial coordinates to ensure accurate mapping. 

- Cataloging: The process of systematically recording, labeling, and storing artifacts and data from an excavation for future study and analysis. 

Geoarchaeology: The study of geological processes and materials in relation to archaeological sites, using geological methods to understand past human-environment interactions and site formation. 

- Folsom discovery: The discovery of Folsom points in association with extinct bison bones in Folsom, New Mexico (1926), providing evidence for prehistoric human occupation in North America during the Ice Age. 

- Preservation: The process by which materials (such as bones, tools, and organic remains) are preserved in the archaeological record, often influenced by environmental factors like temperature, moisture, and burial conditions. 

-factors: Conditions like climate, soil composition, burial environment, and natural events (flooding, volcanic activity) that affect the preservation of archaeological materials. 

-examples: Environmental factors influencing preservation include dry desert conditions preserving organic material, or waterlogged environments preserving wood and plant fibers. 

- Sediments: Particles of rock and organic material transported by natural forces (wind, water, ice) that accumulate in layers over time and can contain artifacts, fossils, and other archaeological data. 

-alluvial: Sediments deposited by rivers or streams, often rich in artifacts which can provide valuable chronological information about human activity near waterways. 

-colluvial: Sediments that accumulate at the base of slopes due to gravity, often containing materials from higher elevations and potentially displacing artifacts. 

-eolian: Wind-deposited sediments, such as sand dunes or loess, which can preserve archaeological materials by encasing them in a stable, dry environment. 

Dating: The process of determining the age of artifacts, features, or sites, typically through relative or absolute methods. 

- Law of superposition: A principle stating that in undisturbed sedimentary layers, the oldest layers are at the bottom and the youngest are at the top. 

- Laetoli footprints: Ancient hominin footprints preserved in volcanic ash in Laetoli, Tanzania (about 3.6 million years old), providing evidence of early human-like bipedalism. 

- Relative dating: Determining the age of an object or feature in relation to others (e.g., older or younger) without determining an exact numerical age. 

- Absolute dating: Methods that provide a specific date or date range for an object or site, often using scientific techniques like radiocarbon dating. 

- Index fossils/time markers: Fossils that are widespread, short-lived, and characteristic of a specific period, used to help correlate the age of different sites. 

- Seriation: A relative dating technique that arranges artifacts or features in a sequence based on changes in style or frequency over time. 

- Dendrochronology: The method of dating tree rings to determine the exact year of tree growth, useful for dating wooden structures or environmental changes. 

- Radiocarbon dating: A form of absolute dating that measures the decay of carbon-14 in organic materials, useful for dating items up to about 50,000 years old. 

- Argon dating: A form of absolute dating based on measuring the ratio of argon isotopes in volcanic rock or ash, often used to date sites older than those suitable for radiocarbon dating. 

- Trapped charge dating: Techniques like thermoluminescence or optically stimulated luminescence, which measure trapped electrons in minerals to determine when they were last exposed to light or heat. 

- Archaeomagnetic dating: A dating method based on the alignment of magnetic minerals in fired materials (like hearths), which record the Earth's magnetic field at the time of heating.