ARCHAEOLOGY

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ARCHAEOLOGY
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WHAT IS ARCHAEOLOGY?

• Provides a primary source of information to
  researchers and historians. The items studied
  almost always come from the Earth and are called
  artifacts.

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TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Artifact- An object made by human beings
• Excavation- Digging material out of the ground
• Fossil- Ancient animal or plant remains preserved
  in rocks
• Inorganic Remains- Included here are stone tools
  and pottery. By examining these artifacts an
  archaeologist can determine its age and a great
  deal about the people who used them.
• Organic Remains- These include things that were
  once living (human, animal or plant remains). The
  best location for discovering organic artifacts
  are dry and hot such as deserts or areas which
  are cold and frozen.

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HOW DO ITEMS BECOME BURIED?

• Deliberate burial- graves
• Volcanic Action
• People Abandon sites
• Collapsed buildings
• New layers added- streets.

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HOW ARE SITES UNCOVERED?

• Literary Resources and Records
• Mounds
• Dry Summer
• Construction Sites
• Arial photography
• Many artifacts are lost to deterioration and
  decay.

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Why are these artifacts useful?

• Tools, weapons and utensils- reveal a great deal
  about society and technology.
• Paleo-Indians were the fist people of North
  America.- Unique Stone tools (15)
• DNA- can be used to track connections between
  people and therefore theories of migration emerge.

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METHODS OF DATING ARTIFACTS

• When artifacts are found in an archaeological
  dig, the age of the item must be identified.
• ABSOLUTE DATING- A precise date that is fixed in
  actual years (radiocarbon dating)
• Radiocarbon dating- used to date organic
  materials- carbon
• All living things absorb carbon.
• By testing the amount of carbon left an
  approximate date can be determined.
• CARBON DATING- comparing artifacts from a dated
  site with similar artifacts.