Archaeology

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Archaeology

• What is it?

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First- Archaeologists DO NOT

• Study dinosaurs.
• Just look for pretty or valuable objects.
• Just pick up artifacts.
• Spend all of their time just digging.
• Buy, sell, or put a price on artifacts.

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So what is archaeology?

• The systematic, scientific recovery, and analysis
  of artifacts in order to answer questions about
  past human culture and behavior.

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In other words

• Archaeology is the study of the past through the
  artifacts, and any other tangible objects left
  behind, intentionally or otherwise, by past
  generations.

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Artifacts are the heart of archaeology.

• Artifacts are remnants of the past.
• Objects that have been made or modified by
  humans.
• Range from buildings and cities, to clay pots and
  tools, to mummies and tombs.

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Examples of Artifacts
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History of Archaeology

• First known archaeological expedition excavation
  of the temple of Shamath by Nabonidus, a
  Babylonian ruler from 556 to 539 BC.
• Greeks and Romans excavated ancient burial
  grounds.
• During Middle Ages study of archaeology came to a
  halt.

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Study of the past revitalized during the
Renaissance! (15th Century)

• Investigations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
• Rosetta Stone discovery by Napoleons army
  (Egypt).
• Study of Stone Henge.

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Goals of Classical ArchaeologyCollector

• Based in the Renaissance
• Conduct archaeology in order to acquire beautiful
  objects (sculpture, painting, gold, jewelry) in a
  large part because of the objects gives status
• For oneself
• For a museum
• Value is dependent upon the artifacts beauty,
  rarity, and financial value.

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Goals of the Scholars

• Desire to understand past societies through the
  study of their remains.
• Centered in universities, but also includes
  independent authors, publishers, and foundations.
• Increasing government involvement.

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First Heroes of ArchaeologyGoals

• Seek to prove that some written record or
  legend of the past was actually true.
• Some of these wanted to prove that the Bible was
  true.

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The New Archaeology

• Viewed more as a science.
• Hypothesizing
• Careful use of evidence
• Mathematical analysis
• Scientific proof
• Real optimism that truth could be found.

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Archaeologists study artifacts in order to answer
questions about how humans lived.

• Did they have religion?
• What tools did they use?
• Did they have disease or sickness?
• What did they eat?
• When did they live?
• Did they have laws?
• Did they hunt or farm?
• Where did they live?
• Who took care of their children?
• Did they have writing?
• Did they have art?

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Types of Archaeology

• Prehistoric (before writing)
• Historical (document/writing assisted)
• Classical (Greek and Roman)
• Underwater (shipwrecks)
• Industrial
• Egyptologists, Mayanists, Assyriologists

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Other areas helpful to archaeology

• Anthropology
• Biology
• Geology
• Paleontology
• Zoology
• DNA testing (more recent)

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Excavating
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Once the site has been chosen

• Map out the area.
• Grid is formed dividing the surface into squares
  and labeling the coordinates.
• Measure, dig, sift, and brush away the dirt.
• Must be patient and careful!!!

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Excavating
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Dating Artifacts
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Stratigraphy

• Method of determining the age of artifacts by
  keeping track of the layers of soil in which they
  were found.
• Drawback over time the layers can be disturbed
  or things from different ages can be buried
  together.

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Radiocarbon Dating

• A technique for measuring the age of organic
  remains based on the rate of decay of carbon 14.
  Because the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14
  present in all living organisms is the same, and
  because the decay rate of carbon 14 is constant,
  the length of time that has passed since an
  organism has died can be calculated by comparing
  the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14 in its
  remains to the known ratio in living organisms.
  Also called carbon-14 dating.

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Other dating methods

• Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the
  method of scientific dating based on the analysis
  of tree-ring growth patterns.

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So to wrap it up

• Archaeology is simply the study of artifacts left
  behind to learn about people from the past.
• OR

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People and their

• Garbage