Lecture 2- material culture- archaeological anthropology

What is material culture part 2

as such, material culture is the main source of information about the past from which archaeologists can make inferences. A distinction is often made between those aspects of culture that appear as physical objects and those aspects that are non-material.

in the Magdalenian culture sewing needles were made of

bone and now they are made of steel.

Ancient Mesopotamia

building, artifacts, weapons, jewelry, statues

Egyptian knifes

made of flint and it is in a handle It is used extremely complex and it was used to cut grass

The making of these objects were used to make something else, the____ of it is more important (the technological aspect) not the use of the actual object

making

Your job as an archaeologist is to put ___ into objects

meaning

in archaeology we try not to put ___ onto the object we study

our opinion

Scythian Culture

person who described the Scythian as people of a rather violent nature, they were warriors that were only interested in bloody conquest of new territories. They were described and painted this way. At this point of time Greece was at way with the Scythian Culture-Herodotus (Greek) -They are known today because of the extraordinary abundance of golden artifacts that they made and crafted

don't understand the meaning of them as we don't know what the___ meaning is

personal

Middle Paleolithic bifaces

refined and efficient

what does biface mean

shaped on both faces of the tool

Prehistoric material culture- they wanted to make ___ tools to help process ____

sharp, food and meat

Magdalenian culture

stone tools and bone tools

When an archaeologist doesn't know the meaning of an object, the object is just labeled as ___

symbolic

what is the Function of Material Culture

the meaning can be found There is a function practicality -The people can help create an image of what is only yours -In the organization of burials you can understand the society and the careful disposition of the body, you can learn the levels of the society

either Mayan Classical Period or Egyptian Pre-dynastic (before pharaohs) period what was made

"eccentric" flints

What type of stone tools did the upper Paleolithic make

-Burin- tool used to carve something -Bifacial leaf points- bifacial, sculpted on both sides, leaf, because of its shape and points, bc of the point

Symbolic Aspects of Material Culture

-Scythian Culture- Torc (heavy gold necklace) -Each image can show more than one meaning, the outfit (that someone is wearing) -For archaeologists have the context, they can guess the themes

Representativeness of Material Culture

-Symbolism of a painting -Moai "Heads", Easter Islands you can extract that the people who made them

what is material culture

A term used to describe the objects produced by human beings, including buildings, structures, monuments, tools, weapons, utensils, furniture, art, and indeed any physical item created by a society.

Nature of Material Culture

Abundant/diverse changing "loaded"

What is Clovis culture (north America)

All of these are called Clovis points Extremely finely crafted

what does "loaded" mean

Culture is loaded, bc there is a meaning behind it If you don't understand the only thing you will learn is that is an object

Conclusion

It is all dependent on the context of how it is being used

What type of bone tools did the upper Paleolithic make

Sewing needles Portable art Harpoons Perforated baton Spear thrower

Upper Paleolithic Bifacial Points and tools

Stone tools and bone tools

Diversity

This material culture has a lot of shapes, and it is can be very complex

Gelonus (ukraine)- associated withe the Scythian Culture

Upon digging up Felonus Burials make up 99% of what we known about It is possible that the burial do not show me exactly what info I need Then go back to Synthean