Archaeology Exam Notes

Stratigraphy and Harris Matrix

  • Stratigraphy: Analyzing layers of earth to understand chronological order.
  • Harris Matrix: A tool (seriation chart) used to represent the stratigraphy of an archaeological site.
    • It helps to understand the sequence of events and relationships between different layers or contexts.

Classifying Societies (Elman Service's Model)

  • Mobile Hunter-Gatherer Societies:
    • Small groups (<100), egalitarian, nomadic, depend on wild resources.
  • Segmentary Societies:
    • Larger groups (<1,000), settled farmers/pastoralists, potential leaders with limited power, permanent/temporary settlements.
  • Intermediate Societies/Chiefdoms:
    • 5,000-20,000 people, hierarchical, lineages ranked, central accumulation and redistribution, craft specialization, permanent settlements, ritual centers.
  • Early States:
    • >20,000 people, established hierarchy under leader with army, redistribution systems, tribute/tax/bureaucracy, city center, job specialization.

Settlement Analysis

  • Settlement archaeology: study of the spatial distribution of human activities and settlements.
  • Site Hierarchy: Different sized settlements with a larger center (city).
  • Individual Structures: size, internal organization, material, and function vary based on society type.
  • Community Organization: examines neighborhoods and special use areas within settlements.
  • Nature of Settlements: size, function, and location are key aspects.

Burial Analysis

  • Study of Ranking: Used to identify distinctions in wealth and social status.
  • Indicators: Human remains, grave-goods (quality, quantity, material).
  • Mortuary Traditions: intentionality of treatment at death, messages from the living about the deceased, belief systems about the afterlife.

Spiro Mounds (Example of mortuary analysis)

  • Mississippian Culture, Chiefdom.
  • Craig Mound: Skeletons, shell bead heap, marine shell cups, wooden masks, copper axes.
  • Social Organization: Skeletal articulation, artifacts, bone scattering.

Monuments and Public Works

  • Scale & Labor: Reflect social organization.
  • Segmentary societies: Wessex monuments. Requires organized labor.
  • State societies: Ceremonial centers.

Written Records

  • Mainly in state level societies: Mesoamerica, China, Egypt, West Asia.
  • Function and purpose of texts.
  • Ancient language and social context.
  • Khipu: Inka records using knotted ropes.
  • Hammurabi's Code: Babylonian society, laws about retaliation, murder, theft, witchcraft, agriculture, taxes, trade, women's rights.

Ethnoarchaeology

  • Studying living societies to understand past behaviors.
  • Uses of artifacts, buildings, and structures.
  • Example: Binford and the Nunamiut hunter-gatherers in Alaska.

Archaeology of the Individual and Identity

  • Understanding individual human experience in the past.
  • Cultural experience: variable through time and space.

Social Inequality

  • Example Five Points slum: variety of artifacts indicate inequality.
  • African Burial Ground: DNA analysis, historical data reveal origins and struggles.