Digging Up the Past

• Sumerian Astrology Tablet

• About 2500 B.C.

• Found in Iraq

• Pitcher with built in strainer

• Assyrian Colony Period

• 1900-1750 B.C.

• Clovis Point• Utah• Weapon; flaked• 6 inches

• Mid Neolithic (5000 B.C.)• Needles • Ka-rub (Tibet)

The strange object in the bottom of this pool in the men's baths is an early immersion heater. The circular

piece in the center was heated from below.

This picture shows the Roman equivalent of a fast food restaurant. The counter has several earthenware pots fixed into it which would have contained hot food. Being earthenware, the pots would have

helped conserve the heat. The front step of the shop has a groove in which slid the concertina shutters that were shut when the shop

closed.

The Greek ekklesiasterion was the council meeting arena. Being seated around a circular

arena nobody was at the front.

Deep ruts in the surface of the road show the result of many years of traffic. From the look of it the carts that used this

street must have been built to a standard wheel span.

• Rosetta Stone• Found in

Rosetta, Egypt in 1799 by French soldiers

• 196 B.C. • 2 languages:

Greek and Egyptian

• Stone Seals• Indus River Valley• 3500-1800 B.C.

• Round School Tablet• Nippur, Babylonia• About 2000 B.C.

Archaeology is the study

of the remains of past human

life and cultures

Archaeologistsomeone who tries to

figure out what life was like in the ancient past by looking at the remains of

ancient people - their fossils and their artifacts

Anthropologist• study humans and other human-like creatures known as hominids

• they compare the bones, of these creatures to one another, looking for changes in brain size, and posture

Artifacts• An archaeologist must know the different between an artifact and a fossil. 

• Fossils are the remains of living things (plants, animals, people), not of things that were made. 

• Artifacts are the remains of things that were made, not the remains of living things

Tools• trowels, brushes, spoons, dental picks, sieves, saws, dustpans, and wheelbarrows

• digging at a site is slow and careful work; each grid must be searched very carefully

Excavation• To study archeological remains, archeologists must excavate

• Excavate – dig into the earth to uncover remains of the past

Dating Artifacts

Carbon 14 Testing• 1946 – Willard

Frank Libby• Discovered that all living things contained a radioactive element (Carbon 14)

• Won Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry

Carbon – 14 Dating• All living things on Earth contain

Carbon (some is radioactive)• When these life forms die, they

stop taking in new carbon. • The carbon in their bodies at the

time of their death will remain in their bodies until they decompose, or if they become fossilized

• Radioactive carbon decays at a known rate

• scientists can look at the amount of decay in a fossil’s radioactive carbon, and determine a relative date

• Radiocarbon dating is only effective for objects and fossils that are less than 50,000 years old

• always improving; best methods that we have at this time.

1832 – Christian J. Thomsen (Danish)

divided historyinto 3 ages based on materials that were

used (the first)• Stone Age• Bronze Age• Iron Age

Scientist realized that material used was not as important as how

they got their food, so history was divided into

2 periods.• Hunter-gatherers• Farmers (food producers)

Archaeological

Finds

1700• Italian farmers discovered they were living on ancient Roman city of Herculaneum

•Led to discovery of Pompeii (50 years later)

Ancient City of Herculaneum

This photo gives an idea of the extent of the excavations, which cover only about 1/4 of the original town. In the distance can be seen the present-day town

of Ercolano which has been built on the volcanic material which covered the Roman town.

This metal bath tub shows how little the design of bathtubs has changed in over

2000 years.

These columns show a common method used by the Romans. A brick pillar is

rendered and the rendering partly

shaped to look like a fluted marble column. Notice

how the columns have been painted.

Many of the buildings in Herculaneum have beautifully frescoes and mosaics. This mosaic has survived. The

decorations on the walls around it have not fared so well.

Painted on a wall is this price list (or perhaps it's a poster advertising the

range of wines for sale).

The grey right hand wall of the excavation in this view of part of the back of the villa clearly shows the depth to which it was buried.

Pompeii

Pompeii: Near the forum, stands the Temple of Jupiter, chief of the Roman gods. Behind it, in the haze, looms the bulk of Mount Vesuvius.

The smallest of the 3 temples is dedicated to sown on some plans as the temple of Ceres, on

others as the temple of Athena.

The Temple of Poseidon in the background, the more delicate temple of Hera in the

foreground.

From the front of the

larger Temple of Poseidon you can see the remains

of the internal walls and columns.

Pompeii had several public performance spaces. This is the small theatre, or Odeon, which was a venue for musical events. Without

efficient artificial lighting performances took place during the hours of daylight. The whole arena could be covered with a fabric roof to

protect the audience from the hot sun (or the rain).

The Basilica, or courthouse, in

Pompeii had been damaged in an

earthquake some years before the

eruption of 79 CE. It was being rebuilt

by gangs of workmen. Each

gang had their own column. They had all reached about the same height when work was interrupted...

Pompeii was built on the side of a hill. Every house had a supply of piped water but there was no sewage system. Sewage and other household

water was simply emptied into the street which, according to our guide, were constantly running

with water. The pedestrian walkways are high and each street had stepping stones to let people get

across!

Flour mill - seen in one of

the bakery shops in

Pompeii. Grain was ground into flour when two

slaves turned the top half,

capstan-style.

Why is this important?

We learned how

ancient Romans lived!

1799• French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone

• Discovered Rosetta Stone in Rosetta now called Rashid

• Created – 196 B.C.

• The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group of priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done that are good for the priests and the people of Egypt

• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html

Rashid

Why is this important?• Scholars had not been able to decipher Egyptian writings

• Stone was written in Greek and Egyptian

• Scholars were able to use the Greek writing to translate the Egyptian

• Gained information about ancient Egyptians

Catal Huyuk

Gobekli

Tepe