Basic Methods in Archaeology and Spatial Patterning

Course Logistics and Midterm Exam Parameters

• Exam scheduling and format:
  • The upcoming midterm exam takes place on Thursday.
  • The examination consists of $30$ multiple-choice questions with a total time limit of $25\, \text{minutes}$.
• Scope of course examinations:
  • The course utilizes a non-cumulative examination structure across the academic term.
  • Exam 1 covers all preliminary introductory course material up to the start of basic archaeological methods.
  • All material introduced from basic archaeological methods onwards is excluded from Exam 1 and will be tested on Exam 2.
  • Exam 2 does not cover material tested on Exam 1; Exam 3 does not cover material tested on Exam 1 or Exam 2; Exam 4 does not cover material tested on Exam 1.
• Instructional materials and online resources:
  • Presentation powerpoints uploaded online contain primary images and visual diagrams but lack textual context or full lecture explanations.
  • Substantive contextual detail is provided through required online website readings and pre-recorded instructional lecture videos.
• Examination bonus question policy:
  • One question on Exam 1 addresses subject matter omitted from both live in-class lectures and pre-recorded online videos.
  • This question will be treated as a non-penalizing bonus question.
  • The specific item number for this bonus question will be announced on exam day so students do not experience unnecessary stress.

Fundamental Objectives and Principles of Archaeology

• Primary learning objectives:
  • Understanding the criticality of spatial and behavioral patterning in archaeology.
  • Defining an archaeological site and understanding the nuances of spatial boundary determination.
  • Learning methodologies and techniques utilized to locate archaeological sites.
  • Introduction to basic concepts of archaeological site excavation.
• Practical field training requirements:
  • True mastery of archaeological excavation techniques requires practical field school enrollment.
  • Operational methodologies and excavation skills become self-evident within hours of hands-on field experience on an active site.
• Educational and professional trajectory example:
  • Field school experience at TRU (Thompson Rivers University) includes mock forensic recovery training within artificial environments prior to handling genuine human remains.
  • Students undertaking this foundational training advance to specialized graduate studies in forensic anthropology.

Chronometric Dating Methods in Archaeology

• Diversity of chronometric techniques:
  • Archaeology employs dozens of independent relative and absolute dating techniques divided into distinct scientific categories.
• Radiometric dating category:
  • Radiometric dating techniques rely on measuring the known, predictable decay rates of radioactive isotopes.
• Radiocarbon Dating ($^{14}\text{C}$):
  • Radiocarbon dating is a primary radiometric dating method relying on the radioactive isotope Carbon-14 ($^{14}\text{C}$).
  • An isotope is an atomic variant that undergoes unstable breakdown over time at a constant, mathematically defined rate.
  • Measuring the remaining proportion of $^{14}\text{C}$ decay yields an absolute chronological date for organic samples.

Spatial Patterning Across Macro and Micro Scales

• Human behavioral patterning:
  • Human activities generate distinct spatial patterns across macroscopic, artifactual, and microscopic scales.
  • Pattern recognition allows archaeologists to differentiate intentional human cultural activity from natural environmental occurrences.
• Macroscopic Regional Settlement Patterns:
  • Satellite nocturnal photography of North America (specifically the United States) reveals distinct linear settlement configurations and equal-distance spacing between major urban light clusters.
  • Historical transportation constraints: Prior to the invention of automobiles, overland travel by horse or wagon constrained maximum daily travel and freight distances to approximately $25\, \text{to } 30\, \text{miles}$ ($40\, \text{to } 48\, \text{km}$).
  • Equidistant settlement spacing: Communities naturally emerged at regular $25\, \text{to } 30\, \text{mile}$ intervals to supply necessary logistical support infrastructure along transit routes. Flat terrain promotes highly regular spatial distribution, whereas mountainous terrain introduces spatial irregularities.
  • Caribou Wagon Road (British Columbia): Historical transit corridor extending from Yale to Barkerville featured roadside communities established at regular daily travel intervals; some survive today, whereas others faded following the advent of long-distance motorized transport.
  • Highway system impacts: The development of the U.S. Interstate Highway System altered settlement spatial patterns; bypassed communities shrank or collapsed due to loss of pass-through traffic, whereas new communities emerged at major interstate interchanges.
  • Predictive site modeling: Basic human survival depends on critical environmental resources, including water, food, shelter, and fuel for thermal heat. Because these resources occur in predictable ecological niches, archaeologists utilize environmental variables to statistically predict archaeological site locations.
• Artifact-Level Patterning:
  • Egyptian Neolithic (New Stone Age) flint knives display intentional aesthetic and technological flake patterning.
  • Unifacial pressure flaking removes a thin stone plate while retaining the cortex on one side, placing evenly spaced flake scars along tool margins to produce a refined, artistic cutting edge.
• Microscopic Patterning and Use-Wear Analysis:
  • Differentiating human-manufactured stone tools from naturally fractured rocks requires examining edge modification under optical magnification.
  • Selecting a thin, sharp stone edge for cutting or slicing subjects that specific margin to mechanical stress.
  • Use-wear damage: Repetitive use detaches microscopic micro-flakes sequentially along the active cutting edge, producing a localized micro-pattern that confirms cultural intent rather than natural stone breakage.

Legal Frameworks and Heritage Protection Legislation

• Universal heritage preservation laws:
  • Heritage protection laws exist universally across almost every international jurisdiction, strictly prohibiting unauthorized artifact collection or site disturbance.
• Multi-jurisdictional legal infraction compounding (Example Scenario):
  • Removing a small, weathered pottery shard from a parking lot at a tourist site in Egypt violates Egyptian national heritage protection laws.
  • Attempting to export the artifact breaks national export laws.
  • Transporting the artifact internationally violates international heritage treaties.
  • Importing the artifact into Canada breaks domestic border and customs laws.
  • Potential legal consequences: Prosecution involving Interpol, foreign national authorities, and domestic law enforcement, resulting in substantial financial fines, imprisonment, or harsher legal penalties.
• British Columbia Provincial Legislation:
  • In British Columbia, cultural resources are protected under the Heritage Conservation Act.
  • The act makes it illegal to disturb, alter, or excavate any archaeological site without an authorized permit.

Archaeological Site Definition and Boundary Determination

• Formal Definition:
  • An archaeological site is defined as a spatial clustering of archaeological data consisting of any combination of artifacts, features, structures, and ecofacts.
• Official Site Recording Protocols:
  • Provincial site inventory forms require documenting spatial parameters, including north-south length, east-west width, and detailed site maps.
• The Single Artifact Paradox:
  • An isolated single artifact dropped on the landscape satisfies the definition of human material culture.
  • Recording an isolated artifact forces the completion of formal site boundaries (measuring the isolated object's dimensions).
  • Once submitted, the government Archaeology Branch assigns an official site designation number, legally establishing the location as an archaeological site regardless of whether it contains $1\, \text{artifact}$ or $10,000,000\, \text{artifacts}$.
• The Boundary Problem (The Kamloops Metaphor):
  • Defining absolute spatial boundaries for archaeological sites is intrinsically subjective. Evaluating Kamloops as an archaeological site along Highway 1 towards Cherry Creek reveals continuous material culture (pavement, fencing, ditches, roadside refuse, power lines).
  • Material culture forms an uninterrupted spatial continuum along modern and prehistoric transit trails.
  • Operational boundary selection: Archaeologists determine site boundaries by identifying where the spatial density of material culture drops below a contextual threshold into the hinterland before encountering a separate spatial cluster (such as Cherry Creek).
• Site Boundary Delimitation via Shovel Testing:
  • Surface artifact distributions provide initial spatial indicators.
  • Subsurface spatial extent is evaluated by excavating standardized $20\, \text{cm} \times 20\, \text{cm}$ square test holes using square-topped shovels.
  • Step-testing procedure: From a positive test hole or surface artifact, step out $1\, \text{meter}$ and dig a test hole. If positive, step out another $1\, \text{meter}$. Continue incrementally until encountering negative test holes (absence of cultural material).
  • Transects are extended in cardinal directions to establish the spatial density perimeter submitted on official provincial site maps.

Archaeological Site Conspicuousness and Architectural Typologies

• Conspicuous Sites:
  • Highly visible structural sites easily identified on the landscape.
  • Example: Philae Temple (Egypt), located upstream from the Aswan High Dam. To prevent total submersion during dam construction, the entire temple complex was dismantled, individually stamped with deeply set bronze numbers, precisely documented, and reassembled on higher ground.
• Semi-Conspicuous and Vegetation-Hidden Sites:
  • Large pithouse (house pit) village sites in the interior of British Columbia (among the largest prehistoric settlements in the region) can be completely obscured by dense sagebrush cover.
  • Wildfires burning off sagebrush canopy expose extensive networks of circular house pit depressions from aerial perspectives.
• Inconspicuous Sites:
  • Shallow house pit depressions easily overlooked by untrained individuals walking across the terrain.
• Subterranean Pithouse Architecture (Semi-Subterranean Dwellings):
  • Construction methodology:
  • Excavate a round or rectangular pit into the earth to a depth of approximately $1\, \text{meter}$.
  • Heap excavated soil along the external perimeter.
  • Erect a timber superstructure or roof framework over the pit.
  • Cover the roof framework with the excavated soil to serve as high-efficiency thermal insulation.
  • Architectural features:
  • Primary entrance: A central roof opening serving as both a smoke hole for the central hearth and a ladder entryway.
  • Secondary entrance: Sloping side-doorway entrances extending through the embankment, characteristic of specific sub-phases of the Late Period in interior British Columbia and Neolithic China.
  • Thermal performance: Earth insulation maintains stable subterranean temperatures near the ground frost-line ($56\, \text{to } 58^\circ\text{F}$ or $13\, \text{to } 14^\circ\text{C}$), retaining interior heat during extreme sub-zero winter conditions and providing cool shelter from summer heat.
  • Global distribution: Independent architectural development in British Columbia, China, Egypt, and globally.
  • Historical decline: In North America, pithouse usage ceased primarily due to European colonization and forced socio-cultural shifts, whereas global declines stemmed from changing socio-architectural priorities.

Subsurface and Deeply Buried Archaeological Contexts

• Deeply Stratified Site Contexts:
  • Archaeological deposits frequently lack surface expressions due to sediment aggradation, soil deposition, or urban re-development.
• Urban Stratigraphy and Land Reclamation:
  • Urban redevelopment involves demolishing older structures and excavating deeper foundation footings, unearthing historic and prehistoric structural horizons.
  • Maritime land reclamation (San Francisco and New York): Historic urban shoreline expansion involved infilling harbors over scuttled vessels.
  • Gold Rush San Francisco: Hundreds to thousands of ships were abandoned or scuttled in the harbor during the mid-19th-century economic collapse; subsequent land reclamation built modern urban districts directly over buried ships up to half a mile inland from the modern shoreline.

Surface Reconnaissance and Remote Sensing Methodologies

• Pedestrian Surface Survey:
  • Systematic pedestrian survey across exposed surface terrain.
  • Agricultural plowing turnover: Agricultural plowing continuously turns over topsoil, bringing buried artifacts to the surface. Archaeologists conduct post-plowing pedestrian surveys, placing visual markers (such as pink flags) at every artifact location to map overall spatial distributions prior to artifact collection.
• Aerial Remote Sensing:
  • Visual Aerial Photography: High-resolution low-angle photography captured during early morning or late afternoon leverages long shadow projection to reveal subtle micro-topographic earthworks and structural foundations.
  • Reference archive: Theban Mapping Project (thebanmappingproject.com) provides aerial documentation and 3D virtual tomb surveys in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt.
  • Aerial Thermography (Thermal Infrared): Measures differential surface heat dissipation late in the day or at night. Uncompacted soil loses thermal energy rapidly, whereas dense, buried stone masonry foundations (e.g., Roman villas) retain heat absorbed during the day and cool slowly. Differential moisture retention over buried structures also alters vegetation health, creating visible crop marks.
  • Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAAR): Aircraft- or satellite-mounted radar emitting lateral microwave pulses to penetrate vegetation and surface sediments.
  • Application 1 (Chaco Canyon, USA): Mapped hundreds of miles of prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan road systems connecting "great houses" within thirty to sixty minutes of flight time, a task requiring decades of pedestrian field survey.
  • Application 2 (Sahara Desert paleochannels): Satellite SLAAR penetrated desert sands to map extinct prehistoric river courses. Archaeologists used GPS coordinates to deploy mechanical excavators at stream confluences, uncovering deeply buried prehistoric occupational sites where humans and game aggregated around ancient water sources.

Ground-Based Subsurface Detection and Geophysical Methods

• Metal Detection:
  • Active electromagnetic coil emitting impulses into soil to detect disruptions caused by metallic objects.
  • Limitations: Ineffective for pre-metallic Stone Age contexts. In recent historic contexts (e.g., ranch site studies at O'Keeffe Ranch near Vernon, BC), abundant modern agricultural scrap metal causes continuous false-positive signals ("beep beep beep everywhere"), limiting utility. Highly valuable in ancient Bronze Age sites where metal was rare, curated, and rarely discarded.
• Bowsering / Ground Thumping:
  • Centuries-old acoustic detection method involving physical ground impacts using feet or heavy tamping tools (vertical handles attached to heavy metal plates).
  • Acoustic feedback variations: Bouncing over subterranean hollow cavities or tombs produces resonant, hollow acoustic feedback, whereas impacting buried stone walls or foundation footings yields dull, deadened acoustic signals compared to surrounding matrix.
• Subsurface Probes and Mini-Robotics:
  • Historical: Lerici Periscope (developed by Lerici over a century ago)—an articulated system of segmented metal rods, mirrors, lenses, and control cables inserted into narrow boreholes to visually inspect tomb interiors around obstacles prior to excavation.
  • Modern: Fiber-optic video probes and autonomous or remotely operated miniature crawler robots deployed into tight subterranean voids within pyramids and tombs.
• Shovel Testing:
  • Standardized, ubiquitous subsurface testing method in Cultural Resource Management (CRM).
  • Operational parameters: Small $20\, \text{cm} \times 20\, \text{cm}$ square test pits excavated with square-topped shovels and hand-screened through mesh.
  • Depth limitation: Constrained by shovel ergonomics and arm reach to approximately $50\, \text{to } 80\, \text{cm}$.
  • Purpose: Low-cost, rapid determination of subsurface artifact presence/absence and site boundary delimitation.
• Mechanical Augers and Soil Core Probes:
  • Mechanical Screw Augers: Large-diameter ($6\, \text{to } 8\, \text{inches}$ or $15\, \text{to } 20\, \text{cm}$) tractor- or mini-excavator-mounted augers capable of boring deep rapidly to bring up deeply stratified matrix.
  • Soil Core Probes: Thin steel rods featuring a side extraction groove. Driven into the ground and twisted to extract continuous vertical soil cores without destroying major artifacts.
  • Cultural Soil Identification: Core sampling identifies anthropogenic soils (anthrosols)—soil horizons enriched with organic waste, food refuse, charcoal, and human waste, characterized by dark discoloration and greasy textures.
• Magnetometry:
  • Passive geophysical survey measuring localized anomalies in the Earth's natural magnetic field caused by fired clays, hearths, iron artifacts, or soil disturbance.
  • Configuration: Handheld single/dual sensor units or multi-sensor arrays towed behind vehicles (ATVs/trucks) to map large spatial swaths into digital anomaly maps.
• Electrical Resistivity and Conductivity:
  • Active geophysical method introducing electrical currents directly into the soil.
  • Conductivity: Measures soil capacity to conduct electrical current.
  • Resistivity: Measures soil resistance to current flow.
  • Feature dynamics: Refilled pit features, post molds, and ditches collect loose, moisture-retentive organic soil (yielding high conductivity / low resistivity). Buried stone walls and dense foundations restrict current flow (yielding high resistivity / low conductivity).
  • Equipment: Harness-mounted chest computer, high-precision centimeter-level backpack GPS, generating real-time color subsurface anomaly maps.
• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR):
  • Active system emitting high-frequency electromagnetic radar pulses into the subsurface, recording pulse reflection time delays and amplitudes.
  • Generates high-resolution, three-dimensional digital color visualizations of subsurface anomalies, foundations, and soil strata interfaces.

Archaeological Excavation Paradigms and Field Methodologies

• Pre-1950s Excavation Paradigm:
  • Characterized by unconstrained, large-scale total excavations utilizing heavy industrial equipment (mining rails, ore cars).
  • Methodology lacked systematic scientific hypothesis testing; goal was total site clearance.
  • Destruction of cultural heritage: Total excavation permanently destroyed entire sites, obliterating baseline archaeological records for key historical periods (particularly across the Near East).
• Post-1950s / 1960s Scientific Paradigm Shift:
  • Adoption of scientific methodology, formal research design, and remote sensing technology.
  • Principle of Minimally Invasive Excavation: Formulate a specific research question first, determine exact material culture requirements, target minimal excavation footprints, and conserve the remaining site matrix for future generations using advanced analytical technologies.
• CRM and Mitigation Exceptions:
  • Total site excavation is strictly restricted to Cultural Resource Management (CRM) rescue scenarios where an archaeological site faces imminent destruction from natural erosion or major infrastructure developments (highways, subdivisions, oil/gas platforms).
  • Legal Authority of CRM Archaeologists: Archaeologists operating under statutory authority (e.g., the Heritage Conservation Act) possess legal standing to reject or alter major engineering projects.
  • Pipeline Right-of-Way Redirection Case Study: An archaeologist discovered an extraordinarily rare, highly significant prehistoric site (one of under five known examples) located directly within the surveyed right-of-way of an experimental high-pressure natural gas pipeline. The archaeologist issued a formal refusal, legally compelling the engineering firm to construct a major structural bend in the pipeline to bypass the site, incurring an engineering design alteration cost exceeding $\$20,000,000$.