week 2 intro to archaeology
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What is Archaeology?
ANT 102: Archaeology: Mysteries and Controversies.
Monday, August 27th
Matt Krebs
Matt Krebs
Matt Krebs
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
(Interdisciplinary)1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINSa. Artifacts
(Interdisciplinary)1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINSa. Artifacts
b. Ecofacts
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINSa. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
The Parthenon, Athens, Greece
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
Can we learn anything about this pot without context?
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
Copan
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
a. Provenience
b. Association
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
a. Provenience
b. Association
c. Matrix
Layers of ash covering house 1 at Ceren
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
a. Provenience
b. Association
c. Matrix
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
a. Provenience
b. Association
c. MatrixA
rchaeolo
gica
l Reco
rd
Archaeological Record: Material remains of the past
1) Artifacts – Human-made, generally portable objects2) Ecofacts – Non-man made items such as plant remains
animal bones, soils, sediments3) Features --Hearth, burial, oven, pit
Archaeological Record also includes the context:
Provenience: Specific horizontal and vertical position of an artifact, ecofact, or feature.
Association: The other artifacts, ecofacts and features that something is found with.
Matrix: The soils and sediments that surround an artifact, ecofact or feature
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
ANT 102: : Mysteries and Controversies.Archaeology
1. HUMANS
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. CONTEXT
a. Artifacts
c. Features
b. Ecofacts
a. Provenience
b. Association
5. INTERPRETATION
c. Matrix
Why did the owners of this potput it in a grave??
Quantifying the number of pollen grains from trees versus grassesin 12000 year old layers of sediment in a gulch in Arizona.
Things that count as archaeology:
EnvironmentalArchaeology
orPaleo-ecology
Things that count as archaeology:
Documenting 1970s graffiti in an apartment in London.
JohnyRotten
SidVicious
Things that count as archaeology:
Documenting 1970s graffiti in an apartment in London.
Historical archaeology
ExperimentalArchaeology
Things that count as archaeology:
Studying microscopic marks that hyenas and other scavengers leave on bones
Archaeology: Learning about humans in the past through systematic interpretation of the physical remains of the past and their context.
1. HUMANS IN THE PAST
2. SYSTEMATIC
3. ANALYSIS OF PHYSICAL REMAINS
4. IMPORTANT OF CONTEXT
5. INTERPRETATION
(Interdisciplinary)
Ucí-Cansahcab Regional Integration ProjectInvestigating Ancient Maya Regional Integration in Yucatan, Mexico
Causeway appears above the yellow line
2) When was the causeway built and when was it abandoned?3) Did the political capital heavily regulate other nearby towns? 4) Was this political integration helpful to people living nearby?
How can we explain this regional integration? Why was the causeway built?1) Who’s in charge? What was the regional capital?
Systematic: explore far in multiple directions to ensure that you find the boundaries Interdisciplinary: using technology and methods from surveying and geography (GPS, GIS)
1) What was the likely political capital?How can we explain this regional integration? Why was the causeway built?
Uci(at least during the period from 1 to 550 AD)
2) When was the causeway built and when was it abandoned?
The building was built between about 250 and 500 AD
The building was built between about 250 and 500 AD
In the core of the sacbe, wefound Middle Preclassic andLate Preclassic ceramics
Sacbe built before theEarly Classic. (pre 250 AD)
Sacbe built during or afterthe Late Preclassic (post 100 BC)
100 BC to 250 AD
CONTEXT (provenience and associaton)
CLOSE ANALYSIS OFREMAINS OF PAST(CERAMICS)
1) What was the likely political capital?How can we explain this regional integration? Why was the causeway built?
Uci(at least during the period from 1 to 550 AD)
2) When was the causeway built?
100 BC (?) to 250 AD(corresponds pretty well to the rise of Uci)
3) Did the political capital heavily regulate other nearby towns?
Ancient Maya ballgame
Alley of ballcourtSanta Teresa
15Q-d(5)
Ballcourt
Ballcourtshowinglocation ofexcavations
Number of50 x 50cmunits: 94S
yste
matic
Inte
rdiscip
linary:
Use
of so
il chem
istry
Topographic map of ballcourt area,Santa Teresa site
5 cm
In sum, ballcourt was a location both for formalballplaying, but also ceremonial meals.
It was built around 700 BC, after the decline of Uci
1) What was the likely political capital?How can we explain this regional integration? Why was the causeway built?
Uci(at least during the period from 1 to 550 AD)
2) When was the causeway built and when was it abandoned?
100 BC (?) to 250 AD(corresponds pretty well to the rise of Uci)
3) Did the political capital heavily regulate other nearby towns?
Possibly:--When Uci is flexing its muscles, other sites are on the wane--When Uci declines, smaller sites assert a level of independent political and ritual organization
4) Was this political integration helpful to people living nearby?
One might think that villagers would now get access to the broader tradeconnections and other economic benefits of being part of a large center
Systematic --305 mini-pits --50m3 of excavation (green)
So if they weren’t using many pots, what did they use to store waterand cook and serve food?
Baskets and gourds?
INTERPRETIVE:(which means not fully certain,but there is at least some data
that makes the interpretation plausible)
K1392K625
K1669
K1669
K718
K559
K8277
K8461
K6355
Baskets depicted on PotsBaskets as seen in ancientMaya paintings
Pots as baskets
Pots as gourds
1) What was the likely political capital?How can we explain this regional integration? Why was the causeway built?
Uci(at least during the period from 1 to 550 AD)
2) When was the causeway built and when was it abandoned?
100 BC (?) to 250 AD(corresponds pretty well to the rise of Uci)
3) Did the political capital heavily regulate other nearby towns?
Possibly:
--Smaller sites assert a level of independent political and ritualorganization in Late Classic, when Uci is in decline.
4) Was this political integration helpful to people living nearby?
Apparently not
--People along the causeway did not get exotic goods
--Kancab seems to diminish soon after the sacbe was built.
--They continued to use cheap perishable tools, such as gourds
So, in this example, we see the key aspects of archaeology at work:
…that are often interdisciplinary,
…to acquire physical remains of the past
…that help us make interpretations
…about past human events.
Using systematic methods…
…and that pay close attention to context,
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