The History of Archaeology

1
The History of Archaeology
2
Archaeology is a young Science

• Product of Western Civilization
• Scientific explanation of past, vs. mythic past,
  oral histories, etc.
• 18th and 19th century origins
• Enlightenment Movement in Europe (use of reason
  and science to explain natural world critique of
  previously accepted ideas handed down from
  antiquity)
• No ancient precursor science
• Different from chemistry, philosophy, astronomy,
  mathematics no Classical analog
• Has grown rapidly and is worldwide today
• Practiced in every industrialized nation
• National Past, used for preserving heritage
• Also used for political reasons

3
Four Prerequisites for Archaeology

• 1) Recognition that the Past exists
• Western concept of linear time
• Seems natural to us, but non only possibility
• Allows for cause and effect change over time
• Concept of evolution/development
• Many non-western cultures see time as cyclical
• No beginning or end, just endless repetition of
  cyclical events
• Example Mesoamerican civilizations (Maya, Aztec)
• Continuous cycles of creation and destruction of
  world
• Dual calendars 52 year cycle

4
Four Prerequisites for Archaeology

• 2 ) Interest in the past
• 18th/early 19th century Antiquarianism sparked
  European interest
• Antiquarianism interest in ancient art and
  architecture (exotic, beauty, rarity)
• Pompeii and Herculaneum (Neoclassical movement)
• Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt
• Looting of Classical world by Europeans
• Elgin Marbles
• North America Moundbuilder question
• Thomas Jefferson

5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
Four Prerequisites for Archaeology

• 3) Recognition that past was a long time
• Contradicts Bible (4004 B.C. Genesis)
• Extinct animals w. tools (Boucher de Perthes)
• People had been around long enough for some
  animals to go extinct
• Neanderthal skull (1856)
• Sufficient time for some types of humans to go
  extinct
• Developments in Geology Uniformitarianism
  (Charles Lyell)
• Huge amounts of time necessary for formation of
  geologic features through observed processes
• Previous belief in catastrophism
• Darwin/Wallace and Evolution

11
(No Transcript)
12
Four Prerequisites for Archaeology

• 4) Past can be investigated by excavation
• Jens Worsaee Stratigraphy
• Adoption of concept from geology
• Idea that layers of soil builds up over time
  deeper you dig, the older stuff gets
• Christian Thompson Seriation
• Idea that the objects used by ancient peoples
  changed over time
• 3 Age System (Stone Age Bronze Age, Iron Age)
• Stratigraphy Seriation ability to form
  chronologies (change over time)
• But only relative datesno absolute dates

13
(No Transcript)
14
Development of Archaeology

• Late19th century, scientific archaeology develops
  in Europe and America
• Developed differently due to local concerns
• American Archaeology
• Concerned initially w. Native Americans (as far
  back as Thomas Jefferson)
• Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE)
• Part of Anthropology
• European Archaeology
• Concerned initially w. Classical World (Greece,
  Rome) and literate societies (w. Writing)
• Associated w. History, not w. Anthropology
• Antiquarianism persists today (Antiquities Trade)

15
Development of Archaeology

• How to explain change over time?
• Early 20th Century
• Descriptive Period (Culture Historical Approach)
• Exploring range of variation in archaeological
  record, without much attention to explanation
• Diffusionism and Migration major explanatory
  mechanisms
• Middle 20th Century
• Evolutionary Period (Processual Approach)
• Use of Evolutionary concepts to explain change in
  archaeological record
• Changes in material culture often explained by
  changes in the environment
• Late 20th Century
• Critical Period (Post-Processual Approach)
• Criticism of previous approaches to explanation
  as simplistic and incomplete
• Use of cultural explanations for changes in
  material culture (culture changes for its own
  reasons, not because of environmental factors)