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of History and Heritage Management

INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOLOGY- HANDOUT

HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

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CHAPTER ONE

The definition and concept of Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of past cultures through the material (physical) remains people

left behind. It is defined as the study of past humans based on investigation of their

material remains. You do not need the people, only their stuff. Often, usually, the people

are dead, but not always. The dead tell no lies, but often they do not tell anything: we

must tease it out from the material evidence. Archaeology is detective work, with its

own specialized techniques, piecing together what happened in the past based on

not only the material items and residues, but also their relationships and contexts. It

is also considered as the collection of methods, techniques, and analytical

procedures that scholars use in their attempt to understand the events that took

place in the past. The word Archaeology derived from two Greek words: “Archaic”,

which means “ancient” and “Logia”, which means the study. These events are evidenced

today in the form of material remains buried under the surface of the earth from the very

small simple fragments (e.g., pottery shreds, stone tools, beads…etc.) to the very big and

elaborate buildings/ architectural complex (e.g., pyramid, stele, burial sites, walls and

temples). Archaeologists carefully excavate and record even minor and ‘dirty’ objects

like broken potteries, bones and stones in an attempt to understand how people used

them in the past for their survival.

Material remains in archaeology can range from small artifacts, such as arrowheads, to

large buildings, such as pyramids. Anything that people created or modified is part of the

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archaeological record. Archaeologists use these remains to understand and re-create all

aspects of past culture, from the daily lives of ordinary people to the grand conquests of

emperors. Often, these objects are buried and have to be carefully uncovered or

excavated before they can be studied. In many cases, they are the only clues

archaeologists have to help them reconstruct the lives of ancient people. These objects are

like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle that the archaeologist must solve.

Significances of Studying Archaeology

Archaeology helps us to appreciate and preserve our shared human heritage. It informs us

about the past, helps us understand where we came from, and shows us how people lived,

overcame challenges, and developed the societies we have today.

The Goals of Archaeology

The goals of archaeologist in researching and interpreting their materials anchored on

five pillars:

In its study of the human past, archaeology has at least four main goals, several of which

play a role in virtually every research project.

The first goal, a very basic one, is to reconstruct the chronology/ time sequence of past

human events as they were played out across space and through time. This goal is

essentially that of providing order to the archaeological record, an order that implicitly

answers the fundamental “when” and “where” questions. When did plant domestication

arise in the Near East? Does the distribution of hand axes extend into Southeast Asia?

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Descriptive questions such as these, anchored as they are in time and space, are essential

to the successful examination of more challenging questions about the human past.

Archaeology’s second main goal is to reconstruct past human life ways. Using clues

from recovered artifacts, archaeological features, sites, and contexts, archaeologists try to

understand how people actually created and used those cultural products to interact with

each other and their surroundings. How did they use these tools? How were people

treated in death? What did their huts or shelters look like? Think of this area of research

as the archaeological equivalent of the ethnographies of cultural anthropology.

Third goal, archaeologists want to be able to answer the why questions of human

prehistory that is to explain change takes place. Archaeologists want to explain how and

why the past happened as it did. Why does the earliest evidence of farming occur after

the end of the last Ice Age and not before? Are social inequalities inevitable correlates of

the development of the earliest civilizations? Such questions are tough to answer because

of their general nature and because the answers can sometimes require that we come to

understand more about the past than anyone has yet learned.

Fourth goal, archaeologists want to understand the nature of the archaeological data

itself. That is, they try to work out the relationship between the discovered material tools

of the past (like stone tool or pottery) and the human behaviour that produced them

Finally, archaeologists are interested to preserve the past to the future.

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Scope of Archaeology

The focus of archaeology has changed over the years. Archaeozoologists today study

everything from ancient pots to DNA to theories of cognitive processes. This expanded

scope of archaeology has necessitated the creation of many new interpretive approaches

and recovery techniques. While the trowel continues to be a primary tool, archaeologists

have also added satellite imagery, computers, and robotics to their arsenal. Excavations

now often include dozens of experts from varied disciplines, including ceramics,

osteology, geology, and botany, as well as research technicians with highly specialized

talents.

Kinds of archaeology

What are the different kinds of archaeology, how did each originate, and in what larger

discipline? Many of them overlap, and many do not have a completely anthropological

viewpoint. Some immediately think of archaeology in terms of Egypt or Rome, not

realizing you can do it anywhere; someone probably has, right where you live. Much of

classical archaeology concerns what Western culture considers the classic civilizations of

western Asia, Egypt, and Europe, and the study of these derives in large part from

history, philology (study of ancient texts), and art history. Prehistoric is often

distinguished from historic archaeology, the latter being study of cultures who have

written history. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the boundary between history and

prehistory, since early writing systems do not tell us everything and that boundary is at

radically different times in different places. When does history begin h in Florida? As

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soon as the first Spanish arrive in the early sixteenth century and write down what they

see of the native people they encountered. Are these accounts biased? Of course; they are

ethnocentric and concerned with specifics of the expeditions, getting food, gold, other

needs, and often considered the natives as less than human.

What are the biases of history? Who writes history? The winners, the elites. In the

Americas there is a distinct body of methods and theory for historic archaeology, and we

have now gone from investigating only the elite sites (such as plantations in the South,

often much better-funded projects) to the sites of those without history (such as slave

cabins at those plantations, or camps of imported Chinese railroad workers, or other

minority peoples). ere Clearly classical archaeology is historic archaeology as well.

In Europe, archaeology is often considered by default to be classical materials and time

periods, as distinguished from prehistory. So that, for example, in Florence, Italy, the

prehistory museum goes from the first Paleolithic people hundreds of thousands of years

ago to the Bronze Age, some 4,000 years ago, while the archaeology museum begins

with the Bronze Age and goes through the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome.

Prehistoric archaeology has its own difficulties, such as the possibility of past human

systems with no modern analogs that we would have a hard time reconstructing.

Sometimes we have to treat early civilizations as if they were prehistoric, if their writing

systems cannot be understood. This is the case in the Indus River Valley of India and

Pakistan, for example. Study of the great Maya civilization in Mesoamerica has lately

been “transformed” into historic archaeology because we can finally read their glyphic

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writing [show picture of glyphs]. The story of this breakthrough is given in (Coe 1999),

which details how epigraphers (who studied the glyphs), linguists, historians and art

historians, as well as archaeologists, disagreed or cooperated in the solving of the

puzzles, and how political issues delayed progress, since the correct interpretations by a

Russian linguist were ignored because of the Cold War. Breaking the Maya Code

Underwater archaeology is another specialization that requires a whole additional body of

knowledge, and not only about diving.

What else would be different? Specific techniques and methods adapted to the

underwater environment, complex machinery and recording systems, various

technologies, and also general knowledge of boats and ships, which you need to get out

there even if you are not excavating shipwrecks. It is something like 100 times as

expensive as terrestrial archaeology. Besides sunken watercraft, there is everything else

imaginable underwater, from silted-in ports and docks to lost c submerged during floods

or earthquakes to prehistoric camps drowned after the end of the Ice Age when the

glaciers melted and sea levels rose.

Industrial archaeologists study buildings and remains that date to the period after the

Industrial Revolution. Archaeologists generally choose to focus on a particular culture

that often is associated with a chronological period: classical archaeology covers the

civilizations affected by the Greeks and Romans, Egyptian archaeology deals with Egypt,

Mesoamerican archaeology focuses on cultures in Central America and Mexico, and so

on.

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Archaeologists help reconstruct the past in other ways besides simply excavating sites

belonging to a particular culture. Ethnoarchaeologists study people living today and

record how they organize and use objects. The study of modern behavior can help reveal

how and why people in the past left behind certain types of remains in certain patterns.

Environmental archaeologists help us understand the conditions that existed when the

people being studied were alive. Experimental archaeologists reconstruct techniques and

processes used in the past to create artifacts, art, and architecture.

What is paleoethnobotany/ archaeobotany? A sub-type of environmental archaeology

that deals plant remains from archaeological sites. It can be done at the macrobotanical

level, looking at seeds, charcoal and wood pieces, etc. Some sites have produced

carbonized persimmon rind, native fruit skin that was dropped into the prehistoric fire! At

the microbotanical level we can study pollen remains, which is also known as

palynology, and phytoliths, also known as biosilicates, which are mineral deposits that

form in the open spaces inside plants (much like your pot for boiling water or your glass

shower door in Florida will have scale form on it from calcium or iron in the water).

What can archaeobotanical remains tell us? Besides what plants people may have eaten

or used for other purposes, we can learn what was growing in the area or brought to the

site. Pollen from species that are no longer present in the region gives us a clue to ancient

ecosystems and climates, for example. The study of environmental change, especially as

it is linked to human action, is enormously important today. We can also learn about the

process of domestication of plants, where people change from gathering wild resources to

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producing their own. The latter is MUCH more work, so it is important to understand

this.

What is zooarchaeology? A sub-type of environmental archaeology that deals animal

remains from archaeological contexts, with the same kinds of goals that we have for plant

remains. What is the species, how was it used, what was its availability in the

environment, and what about the domestication processes?

Underwater archaeologists study material remains that survive underwater, including

shipwrecks and sites inundated by a rise in sea level. Others, working in the field of

cultural resource management, assess archaeological remains at construction sites in

order to record critical information and preserve as much as possible before the site is

destroyed or covered over.

The Relationship between History and Archaeology

History is defined as the study of past human events. This definition is however very

limited for it is not all past human events that constitute history, human activities are

multiple and take place every day that they cannot be all be taken as historical event.

History, therefore, is the study of the selected past human events. The selection of study

of historical events depends on the historians himself, his own background, the political

and socio-economic environment in which he lives, the message he wants to

communicate to his consumers and the lesson he wants them to learn.

Therefore, we can define history as an interaction between the historian and his fact and

an interaction between the past, present, and the future.

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For a long time until 20thcentury written sources had been regarded as the only sources of

history, absence of such sources in sub-Saharan Africa leads to the conclusion by the

colonial historian that black Africans had no history.

The necessity to decolonize Africans history from its colonial biases, following

attainment of independence by African states leads to the rigorous search for others. The

application of these new sources made it possible to rewrite the African history more

scientifically and from an African point of view whereby shading it from the colonial

biases from 1960s, onwards.

Archeology is a source of history concerned with the study of past human physical and

cultural remains (fossil and artifacts) recovered from the earth by archeological exaction.

As such archeology deals with pre-historical as well as historical periods of the human

society.

Archeological as the study of the human cultural and social past whose goals are to

narrate the sequent story of the past and to explain the events that composed it.

Archeology is interested in both the objects made by the people of the past cultures and

civilizations and why the people lived the way they did. To achieve these goals,

archeologists excavate and analyze the remains and monuments of the past cultures and

the context in which they found, whether they concentrate on the most ancient human

societies or those of more recent centuries, all archeologists agree that the fundamental

responsibility is to conserve the past for future generation.

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Prehistory is the history of mankind before the appearance of written document pre

historic archeology is the study analysis and interpretation of the material culture of

prehistoric society in order to describe and explain the history and culture of these

societies.It can therefore be argued that archeology is closely related with history in the

following factors:

Both disciplines seek knowledge of human past, history deals primarily with written

account from the past and archeology deals primarily with the physical remains of the

past.

Archeology is also linked with history in a more particular manner, the history of the

earliest literate societies such as those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome heavily

depends on archaeology which was in the first place resistible for the recovery of the

written history documents through archaeological excavations.

Both archaeology and history are complemented each other, together providing a more

complete record of the past, for example some of archaeological invisible activities may

described in historical documents, also sometimes history can be used to locate the

archaeological sites, this means that through history we can find the archaeological sites.

Both are related in terms of methodology where archaeology and history use the same

method in the finding the past events, such as the use of observation where history and

archaeology use to observe a certain place where particular events took place, nothing to

do with history or archaeology without observation.Even in the most recent, archaeology

has contributed to the study of written history through the study of artifacts and structures
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of such literate societies, hence the development of new sub discipline of historical

archaeology.

Also, historical documents of course are physical remain of the past and can be studied

as such, clay tablets marked cuneiform writing, Egyptian Hierographic text on papyrus

and inscription carried on stone movement are just as much document as are the book

published in 17thcentury Europe obvious, therefore many historical texts are discovered

through archeological research.

History reconstructed by archaeologist tends to be more anonymous for archaeological

chronologies rarely; therefore, archaeology helps in reconstructing a history of particular

events in chronological order accorder according to happening of the events.

Apart from similarities, also history and archaeology differ in the following aspects;

History deals primarily with written accounts from the past while archaeology deals with

material remains of the past, these material remains are mute in contrast to the historical

records.

Historical focus on literate and richest communities such as kings, queens, and high

priests, the prominence of these people could have influenced the storage of their records

while archaeology is less partial for rich or learned folk, every one contributes to the

archaeological record.

Another contrast is found on the scope or coverage of two disciplines; archaeology

covers the period from the beginning of human culture (2.5 million years ago) to present,

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for this case archaeology is our primary source of information for 99% of human history

while history covers the period from the beginning of written records (5000BC) to

present.

Historian are concerned about text while archaeologist keep themselves busy with

artifacts, history is based on written documents, compare to archaeology which deals

artifacts like fossils (human remains), food remains, ruin of buildings, tool, pottery and

jewelry.

Conclusively, archaeology and history have formed close alliances, both disciplines focus

on the study of particular era of human past. For instance, the long-established field of

classical archaeology combines the methods of archaeology with the use of historical

source to document, the classical civilizations of Greece and Roma. Classical

archaeology is also traditionally allied to the field of art history, which provides another

route to understand the past.

Archaeology and Prehistory

The study of archaeology is closely associated with the period of prehistory. Prehistory

is the period of human past before the advent of writing.

In human history, writing developed only 5,000 years ago. The rest of human history,

consists of at least five million, is characterized by lack of writing system. Humans did

not develop writing even at the time they built the great ancient cities and social strata.

Does this mean that there is no history in 5 million years ago?

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In your previous history lessons, it has been said that to write history you need at least

some written record. In the absence of written record, like the bulk of human history five

million years ago, our evidences to write the history of the period are only relays on

material remains either made, used or modified by humans. Hence, archaeology is

interested and very much significant to write such history through the material remains

of the past society.

Archaeology Vs Anthropology

Anthropology and Archaeology are two fields of study between which certain differences

can be identified. It is the study of humanity from a bio-cultural perspective. It is, in fact,

study of man as the word itself is made up of Anthropos, meaning man, and logos,

meaning study. So, everything about man, not just in the present but from the ancient past

also makes up the subject matter of anthropology. Archaeology (archeology) is also the

study of the artifacts dug out from below the surface of the earth (related to men from the

past). This study, tells us a lot about the culture, lifestyle, and history of ancient men.

Thus, both subjects are, in a broader sense, studying about man, in general. Archaeology

is thus a part of anthropology that is akin to sociology of the ancient man. Despite such

close relationship and similarities, there are some differences between anthropology and

archeology that will be highlighted in this article.

In the study of culture as a holistic manner, anthropologists employ either of these two

approaches/ or both: emic and etic. They are terms originating from concepts in

linguistic anthropology. Etic is the study of a culture by an anthropological specialist,

and emic is the understanding of the culture from the point of view of the native.

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What are the unique traditions of anthropology that differentiate it from other social

sciences? First there is participant observation, in which the anthropologist who is doing

the ethnographic study, for example, becomes a participant in the culture being studied,

not just observing it from the outside. Another hallowed tradition is cross-cultural

comparison of anthropological data so as to study humanity as a whole, not just

“Western” (white, Judeo-Christian, Euroamerican) culture. Finally, anthropology is

holistic, meaning it is inclusive of many different kinds of research, linking the biological

and cultural and looking for the worldwide perspective. All this can relate to the modern

world’s different political agendas. Applied anthropology offers advocacy for people

without power, without history. Anthropological views of current world problems can

include studying the origins of civilization and the long history of violence in the Middle

East, the imposition of Western technology and values upon other cultures, or the

application of methods from within a culture to help alleviate poverty, disease, and other

ills.

The third division of anthropology is interested in the culture of the early man, his social

life, his interaction with others and nature as well as his intelligence as shown in artifacts

of his time. His languages and customs and traditions of social life make an integral part

of this study known as cultural anthropology. It is this cultural anthropology that is

closer to archeology as an archeologist tries to know all about ancient man on the basis of

analysis of artifacts dug from beneath the surface of the earth where ancient civilizations

lived. The tools and artifacts that are dug are arranged in their chronological age and then

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analyzed to throw light on the man of that time and his life. How he lived, interacted and

managed with nature.

Cultural anthropology includes specializations such as economic, political, social,

folklore, kinship studies, anthropology of art, of dance, ethnomusicology, etc. The

primary terms to know are ethnography and ethnology. The former is the recording of

culture, the description and detail, while the latter is the use of ethnographic data for

scientific study and cross-cultural comparison. What is linguistic anthropology? A

linguist is not the same thing as a polyglot (someone who knows many languages), but

someone who studies language in its cultural context. Linguistic anthropology is

considered a very large subdivision of cultural, or a sub-discipline on its own, with a

huge body of knowledge and subject matter, including sociolinguistics (how the social

setting influences language use), historical linguistics (important to see how languages

evolve and originate), language and thought (how one influences the other and vice

versa), and other specializations. Biological anthropology comprises two major areas of

research: human evolution and human biological variation. These two overlap, and also

include related areas such as studies of non-human primates.

What is Archaeology?

The study of prehistoric man on the basis of analysis of material dug from beneath

the earth is archeology. In North America, archeology is accepted as a sub-field of

anthropology but, outside this region, archeology is regarded as a separate field of study,

a subject that focuses on prehistoric man through analysis of his tools and other artifacts

found in digging of earth. Whether archeology is accepted as a field of study within the

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fold of anthropology or regarded as a separate field of study, the fact remains that both

are studies of early, ancient man. Such study is partly conjecture, partly revealed through

the analysis of tools found in excavations carried out in archeological expeditions.

Archeological research is always chronological in nature as it is necessary to classify the

artifacts found on the basis of their ages. This is considered as the starting point for

archeological research.

Why is Archaeology important to anthropology?

Diverse anthropological events around the world and during distinct epochs can be

compared by cross-cultural studies. Archaeology contributes to anthropology in a unique

way: the study of diachronic and long-term processes that all the other social sciences do

not have.

Are archeologists anthropologists?

Anthropologists and archeologists study the origin, development, and behavior of

humans. They examine the cultures, languages, archeological remains, and physical

characteristics of people in various parts of the world.

What do anthropologists and archaeologists have in common?

Anthropology is the study of human kind. So, his culture, economics, medicine, basically

anything and everything having to do with humans. Archaeology studies the remains of

human cultures, the ceramics, the homes, how they made things etc… Archaeology is

like reading a book in the dirt.

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Geoarchaeology: Geology and Archaeology

Geoarchaeology is defined by Gladfelter as the "contribution of earth sciences,

particularly geomorphology and sedimentary petrography, to the interpretation of

archaeological contexts". Archaeology, especially prehistoric archaeology, has always

had strong ties with geology. The formulation of the concepts of uniformitarianism and

stratigraphy in geology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries paved the way for the

acceptance of the idea of human antiquity and provided the basis for interpreting the

evolution of humanity and its cultures. Archaeologists viewed geology as a source of

information on stratigraphy, reconstruction of paleo- environments, and geochronology.

Recently, as a result of a shift in the theoretical orientation within archaeology from an

emphasis on historical reconstruction to a genuine concern for the anthropological

dimensions of the human past, the scope of geological applications in archaeology has

expanded to deal with new questions. These concern the relationship between the

geological setting of a region and settlement location, the nature of site-forming

processes, the recognition of activity areas in archaeological sites, the role played by

geological processes in distorting or preserving the archaeological record, and the

dynamic relationship between man and the earth. Thus geoarchaeology today deals with

the integration of earth sciences and the human past.

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Geoarchaeology is the contribution from earth sciences to the resolution of geology-

related problems in archaeology. Its scope is wide, encompassing:

1) Location of archaeological sites by geophysical and geochemical methods, such as

phosphate analysis and pH measurements.

2) Geomorphological analysis of archaeological site areas. This is of great importance

for site catchment analysis and for the evaluation of ancient landscape in terms of

settlement location, i.e., geoekistics. It is also useful in evaluating the effect of

geological processes on the density and distribution of artifacts in a site.

3) Regional stratigraphic studies of site areas and microstratigraphic studies of

archaeological sites. These are important not only for interpreting the relative dating

of cultural layers but also, in conjunction with sedimentological analysis, for

contributing to an understanding of site-forming processes and the positioning of

activity areas.

4) Sedimentological analysis of archaeological deposits and associated sediments. In

addition to the importance of this method in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, it is

of great significance in reconstructing the developmental history of a site, i.e., rate of

deposition and pattern of accumulation or removal of archaeological deposits. It is

also of great value, when modified to include a study of submacroscopic,

microarchaeological remains, in the identification of in-site distribution of human

activities and in the analysis of the subsistence base. These sources of information

are crucial for interpreting the interaction be- tween people and the landscape.

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5) Paleoenvironmental analysis. This s is based on geomorphological, stratigraphic, and

sedimentological studies in conjunction with the study of soils, fauna,

macrobotanical remains, and pollen. The first task is to reconstruct the sedimentary

environment (e.g., fluvial, aeolian, and lake environments) by means of facies

models. The second task is to reconstruct the climatic-morphogenic environments

(e.g., periglacial, tropical, and desert environments) and the prehistoric

paleogeography.

6) Technical analysis of artifacts to elucidate the manufacturing techniques (e.g.,

petrographic studies of ceramics and metal artifacts), source areas of archaeological

raw materials (e.g., petrography and trace element analysis of flint and obsidian

artifacts and ores, which may shed light on trade and exchange networks), and the

spatial range of site catchment areas.

7) Modeling of the dynamic relationship between human activities and the landscape.

This is a research problem that is of fundamental importance in dealing with the

articulation of past cultural systems with their environments, a focus of a great deal

of contemporary archaeological investigation. It is a research problem that draws

upon the results of the foci of geoarchaeological analysis discussed above.

8) Conservation and preservation of archaeological resources endangered by frequent

flooding, salinization, and groundwater movements.

9) Dating/ geochronology.

The Nature of Archaeological Records/ Material culture

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When we talk about culture, we mean the behavior and beliefs of groups of people. These

cannot be excavated directly, although they influence the physical remains, material

culture, that archaeologists find. There are both, physical things such as artifacts or stains

in the ground, and, information such as measurements, directions, and associations.

What are artifacts? Things made or modified by people and they are usually portable,

and small as opposed to features [are remains that cannot be moved (large buildings,

post holes)], which are stains in the ground or other non-portable things such as

buildings.

What are ecofacts/ boifacts? Natural items (organic and environmental remains) used by

people or somehow otherwise having cultural associations, such as the many shells left in

the shell middens, horn, and plant remains.

What are sites? Locations of human activity that would have left artifacts, features and

ecofacts. They do not need to be habitation sites, but can be for special purposes or

limited activities such as stone quarries, cemeteries, sunken ships, or isolated temples.

Often it is hard to define a site archaeologically, if it is one artifact it may have been

dropped; one piece of an artifact, such as a sherd of pottery, is even more problematic.

Similarly, site boundaries and divisions between one site and the next in a high-use area

are difficult to establish sometimes, and usually defined operationally for the situation at

hand or defined by the official state definition. In Florida, we can define a place where

we find a handful of stone chips or flakes of chert (the New World stone often called

flint) as a site. A single stone tool could be listed as an isolated find.

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How can we categorize the processes that produce archaeological sites?What the

living people did to leave the remains of the site, and the transformational processes,

what human and natural processes transformed the evidence after the original people

were gone? Behavioral processes listed include acquisition of the material (from that

quarry site we get the stone), manufacture (we make the stone tool by chipping it or flint

knapping), use (which puts wear and other evidence on the stone tool), and deposition

(either accidental, by losing something, or deliberate, by throwing it away). All of these

can be included under the heading of site formational processes, with two kinds, the

human and the Natural. After the original people are gone later humans transform the

landscape, reusing old materials, plowing them down, covering them, and so forth.

Modern human action is responsible for destroying hundreds of archaeological sites per

day in the U.S. and across the world, mostly because people do not realize what they are

destroying or how important it is. This is why education in the stewardship of the past is

so important worldwide.

Natural processes can be classed as physical (erosion, rain), chemical (weathering,

rusting), or biological (animals burrowing, bacteria decaying) can work at the small scale

(rotting away of a wooden artifact) or the large (rotting away of a whole village of

wooden houses). They can be subtractive, destroying the materials, or preservative,

burying the materials in river flood sands or volcanic deposits. The vagaries of the

archaeological record severely bias our archaeological interpretations. What are the kinds

of materials best preserved? Usually stone and ceramics. What is usually not preserved?

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Usually organic materials such as wood, animal flesh and bone. What conditions preserve

organic remains best? Freezing, drying, or keeping wet all the time. The Florida climate,

for example, is wonderful for organic decay because it is hot and cold, wet and dry. The

soils are acidic, insuring rapid decay of organics. But in a shell midden the basic nature of

the shell contributes to good preservation of animal bones, such as those passed around.

At the Windover site near Cape Canaveral, where Archaic period Indians buried their

dead in a pond, the constant wet environment preserved wood, bone, grass matting, and

even the people’s brain matter inside their skulls. On the desert coast of Peru, the lack of

rainfall for years at a time guarantees the preservation of skin, feathers, textiles, and other

perishables. Frozen Inca mummies have been recovered from high-altitude ceremonial

sites in the Andes, and other frozen past people have come from the Arctic and

elsewhere. There is even the frozen 5,300-year-old Italian guy from the Alpine glacier

who we will see later in the class.

Besides the materials themselves, what information is recorded in archaeology? Very

important is the context of provenience, or all the information on context in which

something is found, including exact place in three dimensions and association with other

items. Provenience might include everything from the date and name of the investigator

to the level number in the excavation unit.

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CHAPTER TWO

The History of Archaeology and Its theoretical developments

The Historical Development of Archaeology

Archaeology during the Medieval and Early Modern Europe

The medieval worldview of the universe and life on earth was shaped according to the
dominant form of religion. For European Christendom, the world began shortly before
the creation of Adam and Eve; which is known as the creationist view. According to this
view, the earth was circumscribed by the sphere of the fixed stars, beyond which lay the
heavens. The age of the earth was perceived to be short and its duration strictly limited.
In 1636, the Irish archbishop James Ussher calculated based on his Bible reading that the
world was created in 4004 B.C.

Archbishop Ussher had also calculated the date of the Great Flood happened during the
time of Noah to be 2501 B.C. Geologists were the first to react to his calculation,
claiming that the surface of the earth consists of various successive rock layers
accumulated over million years ago, and the successive rock strata were not formed only
at one time like the time of Noah, but long period of time.

The key figure in refuting the Archbishop Ussher’s conclusion was the Scottish geologist
James Hutton (1726 – 1797). For him, the crust of the earth is constantly being uplifted
and eroded and it consist of sedimented layers of rocks one after the other. His
hypothesis or explanation was latter called uniformitarianism. On the other hand, the
early geologist believed that the rock sedimentation of the earth was made possible
through series of catastrophic floods like the Great Flood of the Noah. For them every

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emerging flood used to wash away the existing living species on earth and new ones
emerge every time. Such hypothesis was called the catastrophism; although,
catastrophism is not now acceptable.

Between 1830 and 1833, however, another geologist Charless Lyell (1797 -1875)
published a text book, ‘Principles of Geology’. Lyell strongly argued in support of the
unifomitarian principle. Hence, by the mid nineteenth century, most scientists in Europe
had come to accept the deep antiquity of the earth. Among the scientists deeply
influenced by Lyell was Charles Darwin (1809 1882), who is the greatest architect of the
species’ evolutionist theory andthe author of ‘On the Origin of Species’ in 1959.

The first archaeological excavations were carried out in the limestone caves of England,
especially by geological scientists. In 1958 a man called William Pengelly (1812 – 1894)
based on his archaeological excavation in eastern England argued that humans had lived
with some extinct wild animals million years ago. Hence from the mid-19th c. many
scientists believed in the evolutionary theory.

Moreover, the medieval world used to attribute the making of some artefacts and features
to magicians and other super human powers. Since the mid-19th century, however,
following the development scientific fields of study in Europe in the great Enlightenment
period, these explanations were no more accepted and the existence of the great human
antiquity (humans had lived on earth for long period and had left their remains) is widely
believed around the growing academic world.

Archaeology and Museum

Conventionally speaking, the collection and classification of archaeological materials

started in Denmark,in Scandinavia, by the Danish National Museum since 1800s. The
first such museum curator was Christian J. Thomson (1788 – 1865). Before Thomson
begun to collect the various prehistory artefacts, he had experience of organizing ancient
coins in chronological order. In the absence of dates on the coins, he used stylistic
similarities. Thomson had successfully collected and classified the great human

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antiquities into three successive ages: The Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
He classified each group of age material chronologically by using the materials’ stylistic
similarity. This has been termed as the Three Age System.

Different Theoretical Approaches to Archaeology

What is the culture history approach in archaeology? I mean the descriptive, normative,
laying out of material culture according to a temporal framework and interpreting
behavior during the different time periods. It is necessary to do culture history to
establish baseline data over time and space. It is the kind of archaeology that has been
historically done the most, and is still done to establish foundations for more scientific
approaches.

What is processual archaeology? It used to be called the “New Archaeology” and

emerged out of the intellectual currents of the 1960s (or even earlier); it includes concern
with natural environments and ecosystems, human and civil rights, and rigorous
mathematics and statistics and computers and other instrumentation. It means the
application of scientific method to archaeology, and should include utilizing specialists in
other fields such as zoology, botany, chemistry, physics, remote sensing, computer
modeling, systems theory, and so forth. The “new” archaeologists were unhappy with
culture history’s method of simply listing traits for different cultures but not explaining
mechanisms for culture change except for some vague notions of invention and diffusion
of ideas. They are concerned with culture process, asking how did systems work and
change and what are the functions of artifacts, activity areas, and whole sites and
systems. Much of processual archaeology is based in cultural materialism, the social
science framework that explains culture in terms of the technoenvironmental constraints
(what are the available technologies and natural resources?).

What is postprocessual archaeology? In sum, it can be seen as a humanistic approach,

or as emic archaeology, attempting to get at the past peoples' own views of how they did

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things and what was significant. It derives from postmodern philosophy in the social

sciences, which actually originated in the field of literary criticism. Though it is an

awkward term, it has also been called or thought at least to include contextual, symbolic,

or critical archaeology. Each of these seeks to understand how material items symbolized

various things and had specific meaning to the people who made them, and how our

scientific biases toward simple function and technology mask our view of individual

human beings in the past and what they might have been thinking. Needless to say, emic

archaeology is very hard to do with prehistory. We might infer what might have been

meaningful to the prehistoric people from what they left behind, for example, but it is

very hard to discern what the meaning was. However, it works better with historic

archaeology because we may have texts to indicate what past people considered

significant. One segment of postprocessual archaeology includes several varieties of

Marxist viewpoints, most of which envision the past as the common people’s struggle for

empowerment and resistance against domination by elites. Possibly the most useful

aspect of postprocessual archaeology is critical theory, which points out all the many

biases inherent in archaeological interpretation and in the profession itself. The numbers

of Native American or African-American archaeologists in the U.S. still are ridiculously

small, for example, and interpretations of ancient peoples are still dominated by pictures

of men doing everything. A major emphasis lately in postprocessual archaeology has

been in gender studies and feminist archaeology, though these can of course be done in a

processual context as well. Most archaeology done today is predominantly processual,

with spatial and temporal aspects established by culture history and the awareness of bias

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brought in by postprocessual thinkers. We need to use all approaches as well as possible

and be aware of the shortcomings of each. We also need awareness of how archaeology is

done in the intellectual atmosphere and politics of the times. Today’s “science wars” have

been triggered by a kind of postmodern impatience with the biased investigator, even

though every investigator is biased! We will examine bias in the latest archaeological

discoveries to come out in the news while we are in this class. Controversies surrounding

the discoveries are always juicy to discuss, and arguments from many sides can be found

in weekly scholarly publications such as Science, Science News, the Chronicle of Higher

Education, and many others, nearly all of which are easily available online as well as in

the library. For example, in 2002, a discovery making the daily news was the engraved

ocher fragments from Blombos Cave in South Africa dated to 77,000 years ago,

suggesting modern-looking human symbolic behavior. The science aspects can be

explored in discussing the limits of radiocarbon dating to go far enough back in time, in

questioning of the method of thermoluminescence dating, and in the debates on the

timing for emergence of biologically modern humans. Humanities aspects of the story

might be whether the cross-hatched lines are art or if there symbolic meaning of some

other kind. There are also the political and professional issues: the great expense for the

research in a poor country, the primacy of European-based explanations, and the world

political situation applied to South Africa and its indigenous peoples today.

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CHAPTER THREE

Archaeological Research Methods

The process of archaeology

Archaeology uses scientific principles to guide its practices. Before beginning to

excavate, an archaeologist needs a reason to dig, an excavation plan, and permission from

the government of the place being excavated. Although archaeology is usually associated

with digging, sometimes the goal is not to excavate, but rather to identify and plot sites

across a landscape or region to see the big picture of habitation or activity in an area.

These are some of the steps of an archaeological project:

Step-1: Hypothesis creation

Archaeologists do not dig randomly in search of artifacts. Excavations are conducted to

answer specific questions or resolve particular issues. The only exception is in cultural

resource management, undertaken when sites are in danger of being destroyed.

Step-2: Survey and site location

Once archaeologists have a reason to dig, they must identify where to dig. Sometimes,

unexpectedly discovering evidence that a site existed in an area is the impetus to dig—but

even then, the goal is not just to dig the site, but to answer questions about the people in

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their environment. Evidence for sites can take many forms, including information

provided in myths and stories, historical references, old maps, farmers’ reports of finds in

their fields, satellite photographs showing patterns not visible from the ground, and the

results of subsurface detection methods such as ground-penetrating radar. Traditional

surface survey often involves hours of walking over miles of terrain to find sites. Sites

identified during survey (usually by patterns of small finds, such as broken pieces of

pottery) are plotted on a map. Once an excavation site has been located, a detailed map is

also made before digging begins. The map is the first of a series of records made during

an archaeological investigation.

Step-3: Excavation

This is the most well-known aspect of archaeology. Archaeologists excavate remains

buried under the earth. Soil and other deposits build up naturally above sites over time

through slow accumulation and more dramatic climatic events. As sites grow, change, are

destroyed, and rise again over time, successive layers of soils develop around artifacts

and features. These layers are called strata, and the recording and “reading” of the layers

is called stratigraphy (to write or record strata). Archaeology and the earth sciences share

the goal of examining the changing layers of the earth, although the archaeologists’ focus

is on human time and human agency.

Unlike the image in cartoons and movies of archaeologists as treasure hunters, excavation

requires extremely careful work. Like detectives at a crime scene, archaeologists evaluate

and record an archaeological site with great precision in order to preserve the context of

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artifacts and features, and they work in teams with many other specialists. A site is

divided into squares to help keep track of the location of each find, and a site plan (a

map) is created to keep track of all the features and artifacts. Since they will continue to

develop better techniques and tools or recovering the past, archaeologists usually leave

areas unexcavated so that others can examine the site again in the future.

The site architect establishes a datum point, an easily identifiable, fixed spot at a known

elevation above sea level. Excavators record the vertical as well as horizontal

relationships of every object. Within each square, every artifact is located vertically in

relationship to the datum point and horizontally in relationship to the sides of the square

and to structures.

Step-4: Data collection and recording

Artifacts must be carefully removed for further analysis and study. However, before they

are moved records—including photographs, drawings, and detailed notes—are made of

all artifacts and features and their surroundings. Archaeologists are trained to notice

changes in soil texture, color, density, and even smell, and to draw and record on a top

plan any changes they notice in the soil as they excavate. A photographer photographs

every find as it starts to emerge from the ground, again after it has been uncovered, but

before it is removed from the square, and then again after it has been removed, cleaned,

and recorded. The dirt removed from the square is sieved if it seems likely that small

finds, perhaps seeds, small bones, or other evidence, may have been missed. Any sieved

finds are recorded as coming from the square or a particular deposit within it.

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As at a crime scene, if information is missed or lost because of careless procedures, it

may be lost forever. It is very important to excavate properly and record everything (even

the unexciting finds and the things that no one was looking for), and then to publish

thoroughly, so others can perhaps interpret finds the current excavators do not yet

understand. Archaeological context is the association of artifacts and features found

within an area or layer, and the relationship of this area or layer to what lies above and

below it. The context of archaeological finds is what allows us to interpret them and

understand their meaning.

Step-5: Laboratory and conservation

Ancient objects that have been preserved underground or underwater for years have to be

cared for appropriately once they are exposed to the air. Conservators are specialists

trained to preserve and restore delicate or damaged objects. Conservation is usually done

in a lab, but sometimes objects are so fragile that some work to save or stabilize them

must be attempted in the field. In the lab, objects are further cleaned, stabilized, and

conserved, and thorough records are maintained about the object: its material, its

dimensions, color, function, and more.

Step-6: Interpretation

Once excavation is completed and the features and objects have been conserved and

analyzed, the archaeologist is responsible for interpreting the findings and explaining the

story of the site and the significance of the finds to the people of the past. The story is one

possible version of the site’s history. The evidence archaeologists interpret is incomplete,
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since many remains have been destroyed and many will never be found. Even when

written records survive, they generally provide only a partial account of what really

happened. Together the specialists evaluate what survives, consider what seems to be

missing, and develop a theory about what happened.

Step-7: Publication

The end result of excavation is the publication of all the finds, plans, and photographs

along with an interpretation of the site. Ideally, the publication will be thorough enough

that other archaeologists and historians can look at the data for themselves and agree,

disagree, or take the interpretation further—or in a different direction.

Techniques and tools

Archaeologists use many tools, some created for them, and others borrowed from other

fields.

Excavation

Common archaeological tools include shovels and trowels to loosen dirt, brooms and

brushes to sweep the loose dirt, buckets to carry the dirt, and sieves to screen it. In

addition to these usual tools, archaeologists utilize any object that can be used to

carefully move earth and uncover objects. For very fine and delicate excavations,

archaeologists use dental picks, brushes, spoons, and very fine blades. For larger scale

operations, archaeologists may use large earthmovers, such as bulldozers and backhoes,

but only to remove topsoil and overgrowth.

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The primary tool used by most archaeologists is the flat mason’s trowel, with which they

slowly scrape away the soil in horizontal motions. Scooped gardening trowels have a

tendency to dig holes, which the archaeologist does not want to do. The goal is to work

horizontally until all the finds in an area have been exposed and their relationships noted.

Survey and Mapping

Imagery from satellites (photographic, infra-red, and radar), space shuttles, and airplanes

helps archaeologists identify surface features, while geophysical prospecting tools, such

as magnetometers, conductivity meters, and ground-penetrating radar, aid in locating

subsurface features Traditional survey tools used in finding and recording sites are taken

from land survey. Archaeological surveyors use compasses, tape measures, stadium rods,

and various other survey tools. Today, most archaeologists also employ electronic

devices, such as Total Stations and Global Positioning System (GPS) units, to help them

map an area or site. A Total Station is an instrument set on a tripod that shoots a signal at

a target placed on the feature to be mapped. The signal bounces off the target and returns

to the Total Station, which calculates the distance and angle of the object. This

information is stored in the instrument’s memory and can be downloaded to a computer

with software that generates a map. GPS technology uses satellite signals to record a

feature or site’s location. It is especially useful in surveying. This information can also be

downloaded and used to create a map.

Destruction of cultural heritage

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Unfortunately, fascination with the past does not always translate to careful scientific

study. Often sites are destroyed by people interested solely in finding objects to collect or

sell for profit, with no regard for legal concerns or the loss of knowledge caused by such

activity. Sites are also destroyed by development when attention is not paid to what lies

beneath the soil. In many cases, cultural heritage is destroyed and information is lost

during construction. Unfortunately, sites can also be badly damaged even by well-

meaning tourists who touch or take pieces of objects, art, or architecture. Over time our

very interest in the past can be detrimental to a site when many people visit, breathe on,

touch, or take away remains. Most archaeologists are actively involved in the

conservation and preservation of cultural heritage. They try to ensure that there are

adequate laws to protect and preserve archaeological remains and devise plans to save

sites that are being destroyed.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Dating/ Chronology in Archaeology

Dating the Past

Determining the age of human past has been an incredible core concept throughout the

evolution of archaeology. Since the remote past, people had been curious about the origin

of themselves and their past history, though their conclusion finally relied on theological

perceptions. However, scholars began to collect remains of past and tried to extend the

age of the pat beyond theology’s determination. This idea, specially, was begun to

develop since the time of Darwinian Theory of evolution that extended the geological

perception of the earth’s history. The real meaning of history is to trace the developments

in various fields of the human past. Archaeological investigations have no meaning

unless the chronological sequences of the events are reconstructed. Towards this end,

archaeology dating methods are either absolute or relative.

Relative Dating

This method of dating in archaeology determines the age of a find in relation and by

comparison to other finds discovered in its vicinity. The greatest limit of this dating

method is that it cannot provide an accurate year or precise date of use. The style of the

artifact and its archaeological location stratigraphically are required to arrive at the

relative date. Due to this fact, bias had been entertained until the beginning of absolute
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dating techniques. The bias was further magnified because enlightenment ideas about

social progress weresupplemented by Romantic interest in origins and change. There are

various relative dating techniques:

Stratigraphy

Itis the oldest of relative dating methods by which archaeologists depend on the common

observation that the height of the habitational area increases as the people continue to live

at the same place. The deposit thus occurring forms layers. According to this method,

therefore, the upper layer is younger than the lower deposit at normal condition.

Typology and Cross Dating in archaeology:

Although typology helps archaeologists to decipher the relative age of their finds, it is

not a dating method in its own right. It is a means of placing artifacts into some kinds of

order. It seeks to identify and analyze changes that will allow artifacts to be placed into

sequences. It is a method of artifact classification basedon certain attributes such as

technology, form, shape, style and model. The products of a given period and place have

a recognizable style- through their distinctive shape decoration they are in some sense

characteristic of the society that produced them. The archaeologist or can often recognize

and classify individual artifacts by their style, and hence assign them to a particular place

in a typological sequence. Materials to be classified using this technique are pottery,

stone tools, metal tools and so on.

Whereas, cross-dating of sites is a method of comparing geologic strata at one site with

another location and correlating the relative age primarily when sites are far too old for

absolute dates.

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Seriation

It is sequence dating based on the idea that artifacts change over time, in which, style and

characteristics coming into fashion, then fading in popularity. It can be manipulated

graphically in percentage. Plotting several curves in a graph can allow archaeologists to

develop a relative chronology for an entire site or group of sites. Pottery and tools with a

variety of types and attributes are typical examples to be dated relatively using seriation

technique.

Linguistic dating

It is a relative dating of language based on lexicostatics study of vocabulary- looking for

common etymology of words spoken by two different groups. If there,were two groups of

people speaking the same language, and were separated so that there is no contact

between them, there will be some change on some of the words through the passage of

time. New words will be invented and others will fall out of use, which lead the

emergence of two different languages as the time goes too long. So that, through

lexicostatics study, the similarity and dissimilarity of these two languages can tell us how

long since they diverged. Hence, the more the dissimilarity of words means the longer

since they diverged and vice versa.

Climatostratigraphy

It is a multidisciplinary approach to determining the timescale of earth based on

environmental changes. The dating is based on reversals of the Earth’s magnetic poles

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detectable in the magnetic properties of geological strata, sediments on land; cores

extracted from the seabed, and associated reversals with layers of volcanic ash.

Absolute Dating Methods

Despite the fact that relative dating techniques are quite useful to reconstruct human

history sequentially, determining the exact and precise date of events known as absolute

dating techniques developed later on. There are different methods of absolute dating

discussed as follows:

Calendars and Historical Dating

Calendar and historical dating have been used entirely until the development of scientific

dating techniques in the mid-20th century. This method of dating lies on relating

archaeological materials with events precisely recorded in historical literatures (such as

books, articles, travel accounts, or inscriptions, coins…etc.). Such a method is best

applicable for historical times (since the advent of writing). The best example, here, can

be the ancient city of Pompeii, covered with ash due to volcanic eruption in 79 AD. An

eye-witness wrote about the event that time. Then, archaeologists revealed much of the

preserved archaeological remains related the age of their finds to that event. But because

these towns had been in existence for several centuries, and finds from uncertain contexts

could be much older. The time range of this dating technique varies from place to place

depending on the beginning of writing. Dating by historical methods remains the most

important procedure for the archaeologist in countries with a reliable calendar supported

by a significant degree of literacy.

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Tree Rings Datong (Dendrochronology)

The concept of tree ring has two components: (1) the dating of past events; and (2) the

reconstruction of past environmental conditions. Tree ring is the production of a number

of rings per unit of time (one ring per year). Substantial proportion of radial growth is

governed by one or more external environmental factors (usually climate), and the

existence of morphological features (e.g., width, density) that allow the environmental

signal to be extracted from ring sequences. This day, dendrochronology has two distinct

archaeological uses: (1) as a successful means of calibrating radiocarbon dates and (2) as

an independent method of absolute dating in its own right.

The basis of dating method of this technique is counting the annual circular growths in

the section of the trunk of a felled tree. Tree rings could not be uniform, even in a single

tree, for two reasons: (1) the thickness of the rings become narrower with the increasing

age of the tree; and (2) the amount of tree growth each year is affected fluctuations in

climate. The time range can go as far back as 6700 BC and more, in different regions.

Radiocarbon Dating

C14 is the most useful method of absolute dating for many archaeologists. It was first

invented by an American Nobel Prized chemist called Willard Libby in 1949. The basis

of application lies on the isotope of 14C with eight neutrons in the nucleus. This isotope of

carbon is produced in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays bombarding nitrogen (14N)

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and it contains an excess of neutrons, making it unstable, and by animals through feeding

off plants or other animals. Uptake of 14C ceases when the plant or animal dies.After

death, the amount of 14C decays at a constant rate, independent of all environmental

conditions. The time taken for half of the atoms of a radioactive isotope to decay is called

its half-life, in which now agreed to be 5730 years. Measurement of the amount left in a

sample gives the date. Organic archaeological remains (plant and animal remains) can be

dated using this method. Samples can accurately date as far as 70,000 years.

However, it has limitations, both in terms of accuracy and the time range it covers.

Archaeologists themselves are also the cause of major errors, through poor sampling

procedures and careless interpretation.

Potassium-Argon/ Argon-Argon Dating

Hominid fossil discoveries in East Africa brought a new method of age determination

that can detect in millions of years. The ages assigned to the fossils discovered so far

have been obtained through radiometric dating of volcanic rocks interbedded with the

fossiliferous sediments. Such numerical calibrations are crucial to understanding rates

and timing of evolutionary change. It has an effective age range from less than 100,000

years to the age of the universe.

The basis of this dating, like radiocarbon dating, is based on the principle of radioactive

decay: in this case, the steady but very slow decay of the radioactive isotope potassium-

40 (40K) to the inert gas argon-40 (40Ar) in volcanic rock. Knowing the half-life of 40K

(around 1.3 billion years), measuring the quantity of 40Ar trapped within a 10 g rock

sample estimates the date of the rock’s formation. This is because Ar, an inert gas, readily

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diffuses out of the system when heated. Therefore, the principal materials used for K-Ar

dating are igneous and metamorphic rocks because they formed from magmas or were

transformed by heat (metamorphosed) sometime after formation. A stable isotope 39K is

converted to 39Ar by neutron bombardment of the sample to be dated. Both argon

isotopes are then measured by mass spectrometry after their release by laser fusion. As

the 40K/39K ratio in a rock is constant, the age of the rock can be determined from its

40Ar/39Ar ratio.

The principle of 40Ar/39Ar is the same with K/Ar dating technique. Currently, the method

is being used to date the late Quaternary with the aim of providing precise single-grain

ages on samples that overlap in time with the 14C method. If this can be achieved, then

40Ar/19Ar dating will be used as a means to check and possibly even calibrate 14C ages,

particularly those at the older end of the radiocarbon spectrum where the correction for

the variation in cosmogenic production of 14C through time may not be well defined. But

error might be happened due to counting process in laboratory and the chemical

conditions of deposition of the sample.

Termoluminescence Dating

TL dating is the determination age by means of measuring the accumulated radiation

dose of the time elapsed since the material containing crystalline minerals was either

heated or exposed to sunlight. Materials to be dated using this technique are pottery,

burnt flint, quartz, stalagmitic, feldspar andzircon.

The basis of age calculation depends on heat radiation. It is assumed to be the radiation

acquired by the minerals during geological times is "drained or lost" when the raw clay is

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fired by the potter, thereby setting the "thermoluminescence clock" to zero. From cooling

onwards, therefore, the minerals, principally quartz and feldspar began to accumulate

fresh radiations-conceptualized in laboratory as Paleodose. Then, we can know the years

that have been elapsed since firing by measuring the accumulated radiation dose on that

sampled pot. For accurate results, special consideration should be given for particular

groups of grains.

This dating method has greatest impact in the Palaeolithic (and Quaternary studies in

general), particularly in application to burnt flint and unburnt sediment that shows

remarkable span of time (beyond half a million years).

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CHAPTER FIVE

Current Issues and Controversies in Archaeology

Public Archaeology

Public archaeology is applied anthropology. It includes not only managing

archaeological sites and other cultural resources, but also involvement in historic

preservation planning and law, archaeology education from schoolkids to avocational

archaeologists to the public; archaeology in the popular media from cartoons to movies to

literature, and understanding the politics of archaeological practice. It involves the

anthropological viewpoint because it takes into consideration landowners, descendants,

and people with political, legal, and other interests in the archaeological record, as well as

professional archaeologists.

Now we see that all archaeology is public archaeology. We need to account for how we

use public funds to investigate the past; we need to define whose past we are

investigating, and why it is important to save it when there are other more pressing world

problems. All archaeology can/should be applied anthropology: for example, forensic

archaeology, excavation of murder and genocide victims (e.g., Lloyd 2002) in Latin

America, the Balkans, and elsewhere after ethnic conflict; excavation of World Trade

Center victims and finding their artifact possessions. There can be practical, useful

information derived from all archaeological work. Rathje’s (2002) garbology studies are

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the most clearly practical in their applications of knowledge about what we throw away

(up to 15 percent usable food in Americans’ garbage), what ends up in landfills, and what

does not degrade as expected (paper being the greatest component of landfills). Many

archaeological studies of human effects upon natural environments, and vice versa, are

useful today to see the consequences of various natural and cultural disasters,

environmental depletion, and overuse/extinction of biotic and other natural resources.

What is included within public archaeology? Everything that relates to the wider society:

cultural resources management, historic preservation, educational programs, archaeo-

tourism, antiquities laws, monument restoration, avocational archaeology, popular media

images of archaeology, communication with modern communities and individuals

affected by archaeology, and more.

What is cultural resources management (CRM)? It is abroad term that includes all

decision-making about archaeological and historic sites, from preservation to excavation

to interpretation to the public. Cultural resources managers may be local, state, or federal

archaeologists charged with protecting significant resources during construction of a

highway or park. Before they can protect them, they must first identify them, then

determine which are significant. Often the Park Service or Department of Transportation

archaeologist cannot do all this alone for large tracts of land, and so may hire specialists

in contract archaeology, usually a small business or university research institute or

consultant.

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Contract archaeologists do the fieldwork, often a great number of Phase I surveys, shovel

testing and doing background research, then they prepare a report with recommendations.

If they find sites that are not significant—say, a scatter of chert flakes with little

stratigraphic depth—they often recommend no further action and going ahead with the

construction. They have to do a good job because that is usually all the scientific attention

that site will ever get before it is nuked. If significant sites are identified, often during

Phase II test excavation, they might work with the managers toward preservation,

redesign of the development, or rerouting of the road. Usually, the work is evaluated by

the cultural resources manager at the public agency, who will concur with the

recommendation if the work is done well and within official guidelines. Preservation is

sometimes cheaper than digging more, but sometimes not. If preservation is not an

option—if the road must go through here or the public hospital must be built here—then

Phase III data recovery excavation may be recommended.

What laws protect archaeological sites? As early as 1906, the Antiquities Act protected

sites on federal lands. With the environmental consciousness of the 1960s and 1970s

came many laws protecting cultural as well as natural resources. You do not need to

memorize all the federal laws, and state laws differ across the country a bit, not to

mention local ordinances. However, the general picture is that public lands are protected,

as we already discussed, but private lands are not very much. In Florida, if a developer

wants to build yet another big gated community, it will require various permits and

compliance with state laws.

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What are the ethical issues involved in CRM? Besides all the usual ethical issues that

concern the whole profession of archaeology, management decisions by agencies and for-

profit firms have complex sets of circumstances. Ethical training is becoming more and

more important as the profession of archaeology becomes dominated by practitioners in

CRM and contract positions.

What do we mean by curation, materials conservation and collections management? All

the artifacts and data recovered by field archaeology must be stored in such a fashion that

they will not decay, that they can be easily located for further research, available for

public appreciation, and cared for into the indefinite future. This is expensive and labor-

intensive, and many professionals ignore it because it is more fun to dig. Sometimes

tedious listing of every item in every bag and the treatment of decaying items and storage

of materials in sturdy, non-degradable containers is the part of archaeology seldom seen

or realized by both many professionals and the public.

Is looting a big threat to the archaeological record? Modern construction and our

explosion of population that results in ever-expanding human effects upon the landscape

destroy more archaeology than individual looters. However, there is always looting,

probably since the first burials of important people with wealth items! King Tut’s tomb

was remarkable not for its outstanding wealth or even the importance of the teenage

insignificant king himself, but because it was NOT looted and therefore full of gold and

other goodies in original context. Most of the other, far more before famous Egyptian

rulers’ tombs were robbed—probably before the body was cold, if not later in time.

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What is the meaning of stewardship? This is an important concept we try to encourage:

understanding the archaeological record as the fragile remains of the past of all people

and how we are all responsible for preserving it as much as possible. There are many

ways to do this, including lobbying for better preservation laws, engaging the local

community in monitoring sites and protecting them against looting, and joining or

donating to several preservation associations.

What kinds of private agencies and foundations help protect archaeological sites? The

Nature Conservancy was founded to gather private donations to purchase and protect

ecologically important and endangered lands, sometimes with archaeological sites on

them. Modeled after it is the more specific Archaeological Conservancy, which targets

significant cultural resources to buy and protect, often then donating the land to a public

agency such as the Park Service to manage and conserve. In Florida there is the

Archaeological and Historical Conservancy based in Miami, and many other such

foundations are out there, usually with informative websites.

What international agencies work to preserve archaeological resources? The United

Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) drafts statements to

help prevent illegal international trade in antiquities and cultural properties. The U.S. and

many other countries have made agreements through UNESCO to return illegally

imported artifacts. Even though U.S. Customs is more worried about what drugs you are

bringing into the country, occasionally and with good work from legal professionals, they

catch smugglers of looted materials. There are also lots of fakes out there made for the

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tourist trade and authenticating antiquities often takes special skills. As already

mentioned, authenticating them for sale or profit, or even evaluating them in market

terms, is unethical. It is often hard for people to understand why this should be so.

Usually, the medical model works. We don’t buy and sell body parts. And they are from

only one body, while archaeological materials are part of the entire human past.

What are the negative aspects of the colonial legacy of archaeology? War, vandalism, and

looting of treasures for the museums of colonial powers have all devastated

archaeological sites. The imperialist mentality used to be well-illustrated in the

patronizing treatment in such familiar places as National Geographic magazine (Gero

and Root 1990), where the archaeologists were dashing white guys in pith helmets and

the actual workers digging and carrying were the dark-skinned natives whose heritage

was being taken away to museums in far distant lands with or without their

understanding, not to mention proper monetary compensation.

Have we become enlightened about our responsibilities in investigating the past of

others? What ethical considerations should guide archaeologists so as not to abuse the

heritage of others? Relations between Native Americans and archaeologists, for example,

have changed in the past decades. Indians are demanding that their ancestors not sit on

some dusty museum shelf waiting to be measured, but be treated with respect, returned to

the community of origin, or not dug up in the first place. As anthropologists we have no

trouble understanding this, though as scientists we lament the missed opportunities to

learn more about ancient health, disease, and society in general when remains must be

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immediately reburied. These are also of course hotly debated issues in the scientific

community, among Native Americans, legal scholars, land-management agencies, and

other interested parties who are “stakeholders” in the human past, who have something to

gain, if only the pleasure of historic identification, by the knowledge of the past.

Not only is there enormous legal and ethical responsibility in the treatment of human

remains, but also just locating and consulting with descendant communities before

investigations are underway is required. The permission and cooperation of landowners,

local communities, and religious and other authorities must often be obtained before any

excavations, but most important is the permission and interest of any living

representatives of the cultural group being investigated.

What decisions about archaeology should be made in consultation with the diverse

groups who have an interest in the past? Besides if and how to excavate and what studies

to do afterwards, there is the question of the disposition of the materials. Artifacts are the

property of the landowner, unless they are cultural properties that can be identified as

belonging to a particular living group or associated with identifiable human remains.

What should be done with standing ruins? Should ancient buildings be reconstructed,

restored as someone thinks they once were, left in place, or preserved at all? Can

archaeo-tourism help or hurt? What about modern communities around famous sites?

Should they not be involved in designing tourist attractions, museums, and restoration of

monuments? Will the plans include any jobs for the local community members? Will the

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materials once preserved just fine in the ground be conserved well, so they will last while

they are investigated or displayed?

What benefits can come to the archaeologist by working with local people and

descendant communities? Not only good public relations and support for the project, but

also real research information, such as the identification of artifacts and their past

functions in the cultural context. The local hunters and fishers, fore instance in Florida,

are enormously helpful in identifying methods of catching different species and making a

living off the river and the sea. In return, archaeologists can show them the kinds of

species the ancient people used to make a living and how fishing might have been the

same or different.

What other obligations to the public remain after the project analyses are completed and

the scientific report submitted? Archaeologists should always try to produce popular

accounts and interpretations of what they have found for the general audience. This can

be in the form of displays, booklets, videos, lectures, or other media presentations. Since

most of the work is done with public money, it is only fair that the public benefits.

Archaeologists also need to learn to write for the public, in understandable but not

condescending terms. All archaeology today is public archaeology.

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