Archaeological Record
Learning Objectives1. Understand how archaeologists gather
information about past cultures.2. Understand how the archaeological
process works, and the ways archaeologists use science to explore how people lived in the past.
3. Describe how studies of material culture can serve as a form of data to improve knowledge about human behavioral variability in past and contemporary societies
Doing Archaeology
Locating Sites Excavation Dating Techniques Artifact Analysis Site & Regional Synthesis
Survey Physical examination of
a geographical regionPossible location of siteGround, aerial, GPR,
GIS
Excavation Systematic uncovering of
archaeological remains Removal of soil deposits and
other materials
Interpreting the Past Subsistence Strategies
Ecological nichesCan the environment influence
population size? How so?
Human Societies Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, & States
Interpreting the Past Subsistence Strategies
Food Collectors Food Producers
Foragers Pastoralists Horticulturists & Agriculturists
Inuit MassaiDani
Interpreting the Past Human societies
Remember Morgan, Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski, Boas….
After WWIIArchaeological & ethnographic
information Considered: 1. Key points in social change2. Avoidance of stereotypes & ethnocentrism
Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Bands: approximately 50 people,
egalitarian, generally observed in foraging groups
Inuit
San ‘Bushman’
Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Tribes: relatively egalitarian,
sometimes a ‘big man’, generally pastoralists & small agricultural societies
Massai
Sami
Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Chiefdoms: inequalities to wealth & power,
craft production, larger population size
States: stratified society, defined territory, governmental institutions
Empires: forms when one state conquers another
Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains?
Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Artifact
Any movable object that has been used, modified, or manufactured by humans
Stone, bone, metal tools; beads & other ornaments, pottery, artwork, religious & sacred items
Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Ecofact
Artifacts that convey information on the environment
Seeds, animals bones, soil
Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Midden
Refuse deposit resulting from human activitiesConsists of sediment
Food remains & discarded artifacts
Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Feature
Nonmoveable articles
Hearths, pits, or house floors
Reveal information on settlement & subsistence
Interpreting the Past: Importance of Context An artifact’s context
Specific location where it was found How it relates to other artifacts around it
Why is context important?Time & space Systemic study of the past in its
context