Comprehensive Archaeology Notes
Administrative Notes & Course Roster
Course Attendance Roster:
Attendance tracking was conducted to finalize enrollment and accommodate waitlisted students.
Surnames documented during attendance: Addison, Akinola, Alan, Lam, Connolly, Gray, Einar, Ellie (or Ely, spelled e-l-i), Elliot, Fisher, Goodshit, Ford, Berguzero, Govanlu, Gottsky, Marashi, Hanson, Hogan, Holt, Kaur (k-a-u-r), Kristia, Keisha Coleman, Lang, Lee, Louie, McCormick, McDermott, McGukin, McKenna, Miwis, Mukhan Yarwal, Ned, Neves, Pulmonary, Parescovitis (Parascubitis), Helen, Hugh, Rebs, Martinez, Roberts, Shahadak, Sherman, Mister Gwinza, Sonimar, Mister Tigger.
Historical Foundations of Archaeology & Antiquarianism
Antiquarianism vs. Modern Archaeology:
Antiquarianism: The practice of collecting ancient objects and art primarily for aesthetic display, personal prestige, or political motivation, without systematic attempts to contextualize artifacts to reconstruct past human behaviors or lifestyles.
Early Historical Antecedents:
Ancient Egypt: Routine clearance of sand around the Great Sphinx was conducted to maintain public visibility, functioning similarly to an outdoor monument display.
6th Century BC Mesopotamia: Neo-Babylonian King Nabonidus and his daughter excavated, recovered, and displayed ancient Mesopotamian artifacts in a museum setting to glorify the historic past and legitimize his political authority around the .
Karl Weber's Methodological Shift:
Karl Weber is widely credited with conducting some of the world's earliest systematic archaeological excavations at Pompeii.
Weber meticulously recorded spatial provenance, keeping detailed records of the exact context of objects, structural features, and rooms.
His primary objective was reconstructive: using physical context to systematically reconstruct the daily lives of ancient inhabitants.
Pompeii, Herculaneum, & the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Excavation Site Dynamics: Herculaneum vs. Pompeii:
Herculaneum:
Excavation was conducted via subterranean tunneling at immense financial and temporal cost.
Artifacts and structural features were kept hidden from public view; backfilling occurred by shifting excavated soil between shafts underground.
Pompeii:
Due to its massive spatial footprint, subterranean secrecy was impossible, leading to large-scale, open-air public excavations.
Became the world's first major archaeological visitor attraction, drawing public tourists for centuries.
Public scrutiny forced higher methodological precision and excavation responsibility.
Cultural & Architectural Impact of Pompeii:
Influenced modern visual arts and catalyzed the Neoclassical architectural style, integrating Roman architectural elements into modern public and private edifices over years after the eruption.
Architectural Examples:
US Capitol Building (Washington, D.C.): Incorporates Roman temple facades.
Old Courthouse (Vancouver, British Columbia): Situated one block off Granville Street, featuring a classical Roman temple facade with two large lion sculptures flanking the entrance stairs.
Shift to Everyday Lives & Comparison with Ancient Egypt:
Pompeii excavations shifted focus from elite monuments to everyday items: hairbrushes, kitchen utensils, and children's toys.
Ancient Egyptian Archaeological Bias:
Ancient Egyptian archaeological historical focus was heavily skewed toward elite monumental architecture (e.g., stone pyramids and grand temples) situated on high desert plateaus above the floodplain.
Ancient Egyptians referred to their land as Kemet ("the black land"), named after the annual Nile River floods that deposited rich dark silt and organic material across agricultural riverbanks.
Everyday Egyptian farmers lived directly along the floodplain; consequently, domestic settlements were either buried by organic silt accumulations or erased by flood cycles, obscuring the archaeological record of everyday populations until targeted excavations in the late .
Socioeconomic Nature of Pompeii:
Pompeii was not an average working-class city; it served as a high-status resort community (analogous to a resort or entertainment hub) populated by Roman senators, diplomats, and wealthy elites owning luxury vacation estates.
Volcanological Mechanics of the AD 79 Eruption:
Occurred in late summer or autumn of (debated dates include August 24 versus late October or November).
The eruption was not characterized by fluid lava flows (such as Mauna Kea) but by catastrophic pyroclastic density currents.
Released superheated gases, dense clouds of pumice, ash, and highly abrasive, fine glassy dust particles.
Heavy pyroclastic gas surges swept down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius at speeds exceeding () at temperatures of several hundred degrees, rapidly displacing all atmospheric oxygen.
Thermal Trauma: Extreme heat caused instant lethal shock, in some cases vaporizing cranial fluids rapidly enough to cause human skulls to explode.
Archaeological Innovations & Techniques at Pompeii
Giuseppe Fiorelli's Plaster Void Casting Method:
Appointed lead director of Pompeii excavations in .
Identified that decomposed human bodies, organic furniture, and wooden structures left negative spaces or void cavities within the compacted volcanic ash and pumice strata.
Formulated the technique of pouring liquid plaster of Paris into discovered void cavities, allowing it to harden before excavating surrounding ash layers.
This preserved precise 3D physical casts of human forms, exact body postures, clothing impressions, facial expressions, and anatomical positions (with internal bones settling to the bottom of the void matrix).
Behavioral Evidence Preserved:
Captures rapid mortality events: individuals propped up on elbows attempting to shield others from falling debris, and individuals suffocated by gas displacement.
Site Preservation & time Capsule Fallacy:
Approximately of Pompeii has been excavated; remains preserved unexcavated underground.
The Pompeii Premise / Time Capsule Myth:
The historic assumption that Pompeii represents a perfect "snapshot frozen in time" is scientifically inaccurate.
Volcanic activity built up over hours/days, allowing many residents to evacuate, carrying away wealth items (jewelry, gold, currency).
Remains left behind represent selective abandonment behaviors, stay-behinds protecting property, or caught evacuees, rather than undisturbed daily life routines. No archaeological site is a static moment frozen in time.
Material & Built Culture of Pompeii and Herculaneum
Urban Infrastructure at Pompeii:
Street Design: Cobblestone streets exhibit deep ruts carved by chariot wheel traffic.
Stepping Stone Crosswalks: Highly elevated sidewalks border streets that doubled as channels for rainwater, business effluent, and sewage. Large raised stepping stones were spaced precisely to allow pedestrians to cross dry-shod while allowing wagon and chariot wheels to straddle the stones.
Public and Domestic Structures:
Forum: Main administrative and civic center.
Brothels: Containing preserved explicit wall graffiti.
Entertainment: Multiple theaters and one of the earliest known Roman stone amphitheaters.
Public Baths: Communal social hubs featuring hot and cold bath suites used by businessmen and elites.
Elite Residences: Built with central open-roof courtyards (impluvium) designed to channel rainwater off roof eaves into central marble floor basins.
Commercial Eateries (Thermopolia): Buffet-style restaurants with counter bins holding ceramic pots for serving hot soups and stews.
Preserved Organic & Domestic Artifacts:
Stoves containing pots with carbonized food remains.
Charred loaves of bread featuring intact maker's marks (early commercial brand stamps).
Preserved bowls of intact eggs, preserved whole olives, ceramic amphorae (used for wine and water storage).
Rare luxury items recovered: Gladiator helmets, silver drinking vessels, fine jewelry.
Intricate wall frescoes and murals providing realistic visual portraits of Pompeian residents.
Archaeology of Herculaneum:
Smaller exposed excavation area due to the modern town constructed directly over ancient municipal layers.
Ancient coastline sat adjacent to the town; volcanic materials expanded the beach coastline outward.
Boathouse Discoveries:
Herculaneum was an active port city located near an island housing a Roman naval station.
During the eruption, Roman naval vessels, merchant ships, and fishing boats mounted evacuation efforts.
Hundreds of citizens fled to beachfront stone boathouses/warehouses awaiting rescue vessels that never arrived.
Pyroclastic surges trapped and killed hundreds inside these vaulted structures, preserving skeletons alongside emergency valuables (bags of coin currency, multiple rings worn on fingers).
Archaeology as a Discipline & Profession
Subdisciplinary Definition:
Archaeology is a core subdiscipline of anthropology (the study of human beings).
The primary goal of archaeology is not the collection or classification of physical objects, but the reconstruction and understanding of human lives, cultures, and societal behaviors through time.
Professional Reality vs. Popular Media:
Media representations (e.g., Indiana Jones, tomb raiding, supernatural artifacts, time travel, avoiding boulder traps) are works of fiction.
Professional archaeology is an active, well-compensated field. Hundreds of professional archaeologists work in cultural resource management (CRM) and research across regions like British Columbia, Canada.
The Atlantis Myth & Archaeological Methodology
Methodological Criteria for Archaeological Investigation:
To be studied archaeologically, a topic must possess physical, material culture (objects, structural remains, or human modifications) that can be empirically documented.
Analysis of the Atlantis Myth:
There is zero physical or archaeological evidence for the existence of Atlantis.
Source Origin: The story originates entirely from ancient Greek philosophy—specifically Plato's literary dialogues, the Critias and the Timaeus.
Context: Plato utilized Atlantis as a fictional, philosophical allegory during a hypothetical classroom exchange to illustrate his vision of an ideal state (Athens) opposed to an overly ambitious empire.
Plato's Textual Description: Describes Atlantis as a continent-sized island situated past the "Pillars of Hercules" controlling North Africa (referring to all territory west of Egypt, termed Libya) and Western Europe up to Italy.
Hypothesized Historical Basis: May have been loosely inspired by oral history surrounding the catastrophic Bronze Age volcanic eruption of the island of Thera (Santorini), a central hub of the Minoan civilization based on Crete.
Unsubstantiated Non-Archaeological Claims: Various non-archaeological theories place Atlantis in Turkey, Antarctica, Spain, or Highland Peru/Bolivia at an altitude of () in the Andes.
Categorization of Material Culture: Artifacts, Features, & Ecofacts
Material Culture: Any physical objects or physical traces made, modified, or used by human beings.
Artifacts:
Definition: Any portable object made, modified, or used by humans.
Chronological Irrelevance: Age does not define an artifact; modern items (clothing, movable chairs) are artifacts.
Examples: Ceramic vessels, manuscript scrolls (e.g., Dead Sea Scrolls found in jars at Qumran in the Jordan Valley near Jericho), lithic tools, and small projectile points.
Canadian Prairie Arrowheads: Extremely small, lightweight arrowheads found on the Canadian Prairies (often mislabeled by collectors as "bird points") were functionally used for hunting large American bison.
Features:
Definition: Any non-portable object or structure made, modified, or used by humans.
Examples: Mortuary temples (e.g., the Ramesseum near the Valley of the Kings), stone pyramids (e.g., Great Pyramid of Giza), buildings, rooms, hearths/fireplaces (arranged stone circles containing ash/charcoal), post holes, and excavated storage pits.
Conceptual Paradox: An excavated pit or post hole is classified as a feature despite being an empty void formed by surrounding unexcavated earth.
Ecofacts:
Definition: Non-artifactual, organic or inorganic natural remains that carry biological or cultural relevance and inform on human behavior.
Examples:
Food Remains: Animal bones, seeds, floral pollen, and shell middens.
Middens: Refuse heaps representing food waste accumulation. Coastal shell middens (common along the British Columbia coastline) consist of clam, mussel, barnacle, and abalone shells alongside vertebrate animal bones.
Non-Human Animal Tool Use vs. Artifacts:
Objects modified or used by non-human animals are not classified as artifacts in archaeology.
Examples of Non-Human Tool Use:
Sea Otters: Select and preserve specific flat stones in a flap of skin under their arms to crack open mussel and clam shells on their chests.
Bowerbirds / Deeper Birds: Construct complex enclosed egg-shaped nests featuring hinged woven doors.
Bonobos (Pan paniscus): Inhabiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bonobos have been documented spontaneously stripping, sharpening, and utilizing wooden sticks as hunting spears without human copying.
Human Remains Classification:
Human remains are not categorized as material culture or artifacts.
Skeletal remains are recovered and analyzed by physical anthropologists or paleoanthropologists (studying fossilized homenin evolution).
Archaeologists undergo specialized osteological training to distinguish human bones from non-human faunal remains to handle burials appropriately.
Geoarchaeology & Sediment Analysis
Geoarchaeology: An interdisciplinary specialization combining principles of geology and archaeology to interpret site formation, environmental context, and spatial human behavior from soil and sediment matrices.
Spatial Analysis of Indigenous Pit Houses:
Applied to to year-old semi-subterranean pit houses constructed by Indigenous populations in British Columbia.
Microscopic Sediment Grain Analysis:
High-Traffic Zones: Sediments retrieved from primary foot-traffic pathways and cooking areas show highly rounded, abraded, and eroded sand/dirt grains under microscopic examination due to repetitive human trampling.
Low-Traffic Zones: Sediments retrieved from sleeping platforms or perimeter storage areas exhibit sharp, angular, uneroded grain structures.
Combines microscopic sedimentology with residue analysis and ancient DNA extraction from floor sediments to map domestic activity spaces.
Diagnostic Artifact Examples & Ancient Technologies
Upper Paleolithic Cave Art:
Exemplified by sites such as Lascaux Cave in Western Europe, featuring upper Paleolithic rock art depicting regional megafauna.
Death Mask of King Tutankhamun:
Discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Fabricated from solid beaten gold, inlaid with lapis lazuli (semi-precious blue stone), obsidian (forming the eyes), quartz, and other minerals.
Historically housed within a heavy bank vault room with thick doors at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo before shifts to the Grand Egyptian Museum and Valley of the Kings storage.
Levallois Prepared Core Technology:
A sophisticated stone tool reduction technique developed by Neanderthals over years ago, involving the systematic shaping of a lithic core to strike off flakes of predictable size and form.
Southwestern American Ceramics:
Diagnostic earthenware and polychrome ceramic vessels produced by ancient cultures in the desert environments of the American Southwest.
Questions & Discussion
Audience Question: Is the exact time of day or night known for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in , given that some cast bodies appear to be positioned as if sleeping?
Response: The precise time of day remains uncertain, and there is even historical disagreement regarding the exact date (ranging from August 24 to late October/November). The volcanic event unfolded over an extended duration. Bodies found in sleeping postures do not indicate individuals slept through the eruption; rather, they represent victims who passed out and died from rapid atmospheric oxygen displacement caused by incoming pyroclastic gas clouds.