Intro to Archaeology

GOALS OF MODERN ARCHAEOLOGY
1. Cultural History
  1. Reconstructing Past Lifeways
    1. Documenting Cultural Change
      1. Explaining Cultural Change
        Stewardship
        What gives VALUE or MEANING to an archaeological site
        What gives VALUE or MEANING to an archaeoligical site
        How BEST do you CONSERVE that MEANING or VALUE in the FUTURE? WHO GETS TO DECIDE?
        WHATS DRIVING THOSE CHANGES U DOCUMENTED BRUV
        MECHANISMS OF CULTURE CHANGE
        INNOVATION
        DIFFUSION
        ACCULTERATION
        Migration may lead to an exchange of traits with the host society
        spread of religious beliefs or an artifact or spread of a culture trait through borrowing
        Invention, which give s birth to...
      2. DISPLAYING how a culture CHANGES using ARTIFACTS
        SERIATION - method for plotting the popularity of an artifact over time
        Uses battleship curve
    2. FUNCTION OF SITES AND ARTIFACTS
      1. When reconstructing a site, think about...
        SPATIAL ASSOCIATION: proximity and context
  2. "When was this site occupied? For how long?"
    1. RELATIVE DATING
      1. ABSOLUTE DATING
        CHRONOMETRIC DATING
        STATEMENTS OF PROBABLITY about date
        Radiocarbon Dating
        Potassium Argon Dating
        PRECISE CALENDER REFERENCE POINT
        Dendochronology - Tree ring dating
        Historical Records
        Ice cores
        Skinny ring = dry year, wide ring = wet year
      2. Putting events in a SEQUENCE without reference to PRECISE DATES
        Stratigraphy - study of strata (rock layers) and their relationship to the geological time scale
COMPONENTS OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
1. ARTIFACTS
  1. FEATURES
    1. ECOFACTS
      1. SOIL PROPERTIES
        HUMAN REMAINS
        Straight up.
        the chemical signatures can tell you alot about what was happening on that soil
        Phosphurous for livestock and dung
        PH - acidic, or nah? Ash changes PH to be more basic
        TEXTURE. How rocky?
      2. Plant and animal remains that are related to human activity
        Not a tool - more like a pile of bones from a kill site
        charred seeds tell us flora used for diet
        pollen preserves in waterlogged environments
        Phytoliths - microscopic silica particles left behind when plants decompose
    2. Pieces of archaeological record that cannot be moved w/o damage
      1. for example: an arrangement of stones, fashioned together as a foundation
        SPECIFIC EXAMPLE: Great Serpent Mound in Ohio - straight up just the ground
        Aquaducts, Huacas, Temples
  2. Any MOVEABLE OBJECT, easily transportable
    1. MADE or MODIFIED or USED by humans in some way
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES
1. Natural
  1. Catastrophic events
    1. Volcanoes, earthquakes, floods
    2. Events that occur over time
      1. Wind and water erosion, thawing and freezing
2. Cultural
  1. Abandonment
    1. Burial
      1. War
        Burial
        Re-occuption
        Modern tourism and construction
        looting

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Intro to Archaeology

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	Created by Caitlin Mongon over 4 years ago