anthropology exam 2

Excavation

Complements the regional survey with more fine-grained data collected at the level of a specific site. Nobody digs without a good reason

Predatory intentional action

Personal gain, I'll be collecting, Curiosity, leave one smart, and commercial.

Contemporary Debates and Issues

Pothunters, looters, and other nasty folks. Black market antiquities trade, Iraq. Public Archaeology. Catalhoyuk (Turkey) and Ransom Place Archaeology. Representation. African Burial Ground in New York.

Kinds of Archaeology

Prehistoric Archaeology Historical Archaeology Industrial Archaeology Nautical or Underwater Archaeology Classical Archaeology Experimental Archaeology CRM

What standards exist that allow us to decide what are appropriate and inappropriate activities?

Professional and legal

Systematic Survey

Provides a regional perspective on the archaeological record. Collects information on settlement patterns e.g., the location of cities, towns, villages, and hamlets over a large area e.g., a river valley. One of the ways archaeologists locate sites that might be excavated in the future historical documentation e.g., maps and other written records is another way to find potential sites. During the survey the team records the location, the size and the approximate age of the site.

Dating Techniques

Relative Absolute Carbon-14 Molecular

Using the map, the archaeologist lays an arbitrary grid of one meter squares across the site.

This grid is used to record the location of the surface collection units as well as the excavation units on the surface of the site.

ecofacts

any type of evidence related to the physical environment in which archaeological deposits are situated e.g. Flora (plant) and Faunal (animal) remains resulting from human activity

Artifacts

anything made, used, or altered in some way by humans

Stewardship

as an archaeologist you have a responsibility To protect, preserve and to conservative the archaeological record.

Carbon-14

date organic remains.determine a fossils date of death or the date of in ancient campfire.less dependable for specimens older than 40,000 year.

Archaeological Resources Preservation Act (ARPA) (1979)

first pice of legation past to protect nativ American land

native American graves protection and repatriation act NAGPRA (1990)

gives a ownership of native American remains to native Americans.

Commercialization hot we

has a responsibility as archaeologist to not promote the demarcation of the archaeological product. To promote a monetary value on items that would promote the looting of archaeological sites.

Public Education and Outreach

have a responsibility to participate in relationships with those who are interested in what they do and When doing so help to promote the presentation of archaeological records.

Site Destruction

human and natural Agents human Agents, incidental and intentional actions Mechanisms

Public Reporting and Publication

in a reasonable amount of time Archeologist have a responsibility to assimilate what they have produce to as wide as an audience is possible.

Representation

is one of the key cultural practices through which meanings are produced and exchanged. African Burial Ground in New York

training and Resources

it is essential for archaeologists to have the right training. Because once the site is excavated it no longer exist.

incidental actions

land development, agriculture and land clearing crazing. Land reclamation and flood control, water development,recreation roads. Public Utilities, mining and industrial.

Experimental Archeology

learning ancient technologies (UCL)

The archaeological record provides archaeologists the unique opportunity to

look at changes in social complexity over thousands and tens of thousands of years (this kind of time depth is not accessible to ethnographers).

Cultural Resource Management CRM Archaeology

manage the preservation of archaeological sites that are threatened by modern development.

National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (1966)

national regeatser for keeping buildings to perserv places stict penalties for loot and destroying archaeological sites also a stablished a program for national historic preservation. And mad an effert to restory crumbling buildings. If a site is on the national regester it is proticted for ever. Lays out wat you can and can not do to that building also goes with CRM

Records and Preservation

need to work towards the long-term preservation in access to archaeological materials.

Absolute

produce dates in years so differences in age can be quantified.

Accountability

public accountability. They're accountable to the public and have to make every reasonable effort to reach out and talk to those affected by what they do.

All of the excavated soil is passed through screen to increase the likelihood that

small and fragmented remains are recovered.

arbitrary levels

soil removed systematically from the excavation unit. done for a quick way of digging. every thing with in a certain depth is removed at once.

Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act (AHPA) (1974)

tacked on to the 1966 legeastation and said if any damig is don on an archeological site by an government agency that government agency is responsible for the metagating this damages cleaning up the damages

Material Culture Archaeological Evidence

the physical evidence of a culture in the objects and architecture they make, or have made. Examples of Material Culture: Artifacts, ecofacts, and features

Stratigraphy

the science that examines the ways in which earth sediments accumulate in strata.

What is archaeology?

the study of human behavior and cultural change in the past through the reconstruction, description, and interpretation of material remains.

Prehistoric Archaeology

the study of the past before historical records began. It is a field of research that looks at all the pre-urban societies of the world. It also has distinctive set of procedures for analyzing material remains so that they can reconstruct their ecological settings.

Industrial Archaeology

the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past.

features

things that people made that cannot be moved e.g. hearths and house floors

Remote Sensing

use of aerial photos and satellite images to locate sites on the ground.

Relative

uses natural layers or strata to establish relative chronology Stratigraphy

What prompts our ethical concerns as archaeologists?

1. Archaeological resources are finite. once they're gone they're going and so we need to make sure we stay up to date with Standards and training within the profession. 2. The many "publics" of archaeology. depends on the project itself. Depends on the private repair with, public agencies, descendent Communities, like the African burial grounds. Archaeologists their selves, and museums.

Professional standards Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Principles of Archaeological Ethics

1. Stewardship 2. Accountability 3.Commercialization 4.Public Education and Outreach 5.Intellectual Property 6.Public Reporting and Publication 7.Records and Preservation 8.Training and Resources

Pothunters, looters

Black market antiquities trade, e.g. Iraq Collecting, and the Selling of Cultural Materials Careless, profiteering archeology.

Institutionalized intentional actions

Archaeological survey and excavation techniques Agency management.

Why do rchaeology?

Archaeologists cannot observe behavior firsthand, so they reconstruct behavior through the study of material remains or the archaeological record, which can elucidate past cultural patterns. CRM, fill the gaps of history

Classical Archaeology

Are you affiliated with university departments of classics or the history of art, rather than anthropology departments. Focus on literate civilizations of the world such as Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

Law of superposition

Artifacts from the lower strata are older than artifacts from higher strata, and artifacts from the same strata are roughly the same age.

Public Archaeology

Demystify archaeology Educate the public about the importance of historic preservation, archaeology so that they do not buy illegally collected items, and/or so that they do not collect illegally or carelessly. To encourage communication between the public and the archaeology community Make archaeology a collaborative effort between local communities, descendant communities, and archaeologists. Catalhoyuk (Turkey) and Ransom Place Archaeology

The Antiquities Act (1906)

Fine and pineal ties on archaeological sits on federal and public land 1906 protection not a lot of preservation enacted by tedy rosavilt

intentional Action

Institutionalized, predatory, and malicious

Nautical or Underwater Archaeology

Investigates submerged sites, most often shipwrecks. Special techniques include remotely operated vehicles, divers also do a underwater survey and excavation.

Kennewick Man

Judge John shoulder kiss ruled that the Kennewick man remains could be subject to scientific study.

Malicious intentional actions

Revenge, frustration towards government.

What constitutes acceptable behavior for an archaeologist (in the field or elsewhere)?

Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Principles of Archaeological Ethics

Flotation

Soil samples are sorted using water and a series of very fine meshes, when water dissolves the soil, the carbonized plant remains float to the top.

Phases of Archaeology Research (1-4)

Systematic Survey Excavation Laboratory Analysis: Phase III Interpretation: Phase IV

Key Fieldwork Strategies (1-2)

Systematic Survey (1) Excavation (2)

Field Methodology

Systematic Survey and Excavation

legal standards Archaeological Law and Ethics in the U.S

The Antiquities Act (1906) National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (1966) National Register of Historic Places Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act (AHPA) (1974) Archaeological Resources Preservation Act (ARPA) (1979) NAGPRA (1990)

Historic Preservation

To rewrite and/or fill in the gaps of written history. Learning about the past through archaeology can provide us with many lessons about ecology and history. Archaeology can contribute to the understanding of peoples, places, and events both prehistoric and historic CRM

True or False Before a site is excavated, permission to excavate must be obtained.

True

Molecular

Uses genetic materials to create an evolutionary tree and estimates when each branching took place

Intellectual Property

any knowledge produced from archaeological materials becomes a part of the archaeological record. It's not an individual archaeologists for everyone has the right to that knowledge.

Processing Artifacts

Wash Identify Catalogue Curate

Interpretation The Final Phase (4)

Writing, writing and more writing Additional research Analysis Interpretation Site Reports Publication

Historical Archaeology

a form of archaeology dealing with places, things, and issues from the past or present when written records and oral traditions can inform and contextualize cultural material. These records can both complement and conflict with the archaeological evidence found at a particular site.

The layers or strata that make up a site help archaeologists establish what?

a relative chronology for the material recovered.