Introduction to Archaeology: Field

Methods, Theory, and Dating

Techniques

Required web links

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/07/iceman/hall-text
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR1IjOVWI7Y

This is satire
http://www.theonion.com/articles/archaeological-dig-uncovers-ancient-race-ofskelet,1268/

What is Archaeology?
The study of the human past through
material evidence of humansthe
archaeological record.
Archaeologists attempt to reconstruct and
interpret the cultural change and variation
of the human past.

(It is more than just finding stuff.)

Archaeology is not about fossil

or dinosaurs

Objects alone
do not help us much
When things are found in context, in their
original setting, we gain a much more
information.

 Context, means where an artifact is found. Not

just the place, but the soil, the site type, the
layer the artifact came from, what else was in
that layer.

Archaeologist
conduct field
work to
find material
remains in
context.
Once an object is in the museum
it is much harder to understand the context

Archaeological site is like a crime scene

(but without the crime).

If the evidence has been disturbed, it is harder to understand what occurred there in the past .

Why do archaeologists dislike the

art market?
Price Realized
$5,040 (Set Currency)
Estimate
$5,500 - $7,500

Art markets encourage looting.

Looting destroys context.
Price Realized
$2,640 (Set Currency)
Estimate
$1,500 - $1,800

How does
looting
destroy
contexts?

Many of the objects in the art world come from

looting. Where else would they come from?
Archaeologists do not sell their artifacts. Looters
destroy sites to get objects to sell.

Why do archaeologists
discourage private collections?

Private collections destroy

context, since most of their
objects come from looters.

These objects have lost their culture

setting, and the amount of information
that we can gain from them is great reduced.

Archaeology is not about finding things, its

about thinking about the things that you find.
What do
these
things
tell us
about
the past?
What new information do these object
yield to enhance our understand of the past ?.

What Do Archaeologists Do?

What Do Archaeologists Do?

We also excavate.

We conduct a LOT of lab work to examine and

reconstruct the artifacts we have recovered in
the field.

Publish papers and give presentations on

our findings and interpretations

Major Theoretical Objectives of Archaeology

Over Time
Early Archaeology (until the 1960s)
Focus on collecting material remains, reconstructing
culture history. (What happened)
1960sProcessual Archaeology
Attempt to explain the cultural processes that led to
ways of life and material cultures. Why do states
develop? (Why did these things happen)
Sought to make archaeology an objective, empirical
science.
1980+ Postprocessual or interpretive archaeology
Importance of human agency and ideas
(who was responsible)

Fieldwork:
Survey & Excavation

Field Survey = Walking

1000 AD
The general
goal of a
regional survey
is to map the
locations of
sites over a
large area and
then compare
changes
through time
1300 AD

Regional Surveys
Provide a small amount of information about a large number of sites.
They are far less expensive than excavations, but more general results.
1. Location of the sites
2. Sizes of the sites
3. History of occupation

Field Survey: Aerial and Satellite

Imagery

With tools such as google earth, these studies are growing very quickly

Field Survey: Ground-Penetrating

Radar (GPR)

These kinds of tools are also

being used more and more.

Floor

Vault of large crypt

My work in Lima (Peru).

Trying to find a crypt
beneath a church
X pattern of waves
showing an empty
space

Types of Archaeological
Excavation:
Vertical and Horizontal

Believe it or not, how you dig will get you different kinds of information

Vertical Excavation
Deep cross-section through multiple
time periods
Goal is to
understand
chronology
and culture
change over
time

Stratigraphy is the key

Stratigraphy
Profiles
show a
slice of
what
occurred
at the
site, as one
action
buries
another.
Profiles can be hard to understand but they are
critical to understand for the context of the objects
you find

Horizontal Excavation
Broad areal exposure of a layer from a
single time period
Goal is to
understand
site function
and use of
space during
a single time
period

With excavations you get a lot of

information about very small areas.

They
are
very
costly

Survey or Excavation ?
Which is better ?
It all depends on what questions you are asking.

Remember: Archaeology is not about finding things,

its about thinking about the things that you find.

Three Main Components of

Archaeological Sites
1. Artifacts
2. Ecofacts
3. Features

3
Pollen grains

Artifact
Any object created or modified by human
action

Ecofact
An unmodified natural item that humans have used
or affected (eg animal remains, pollen grains).

These are especially important when

asking questions about diet or climate

Feature
Immovable objects: structures, floors,
trash layers, pit, etc.

Features generally provide a great deal of

information about the context of the site.

Formation of Archaeological
Sites

What is the history of a site, in other

words, how did a site become a site?

Catastrophic
Destruction & Burial

Pompeii

These are extremely rare.

Destruction:
Raiding and
Warfare

These are also extremely rare.

This shrine was

burnt in 1570 AD

Gradual or Planned
Abandonment

These are extremely common.

Trash Middens

Places where
garbage was dumped
These are extremely common.

wet

dry

Conditions
Affecting
Preservation
Very cold, very wet, very dry
are all good for preservation

cold

The Ice Man, tzi

See the required video for this week.

Dating Methods:
Relative Dating vs. Absolute Dating

Relative Dating
Stratigraphy (law of superposition)

younger

older

Absolute Dating
Radiocarbon (carbon-14, C14) Dating
Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) Dating
Dendrochronology Dating

Radiocarbon
Dating
After death C-14 decays into
N-14
Half-life is 5,730 years
Ok for things less than 30,000
years old
The objects must be
organic (having once lived:
plants, animals, etc)

Potassium-Argon Dating
Potassium (K) decays into Argon (Ar)
Half-life is 1.3 million years
Good for dates in the millions of years
You do not date the object, but instead the ash

Dendrochronology
An excellent dating method,
but is only used in areas of
good wood preservation.

Political
Systems

Un-centralized
(Egalitarian)

Bands

Tribes

Elman Service 1960s

Centralized
(non-egalitarian)

Chiefdoms

States

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL

METHODS
Important terms
archaeology
relative dating
stratigraphy
absolute dating
radiocarbon dating
potassium argon dating
dendrochronology
context
artifact
ecofact
feature
fieldwork
survey
excavation
Extra side