what is archaeology? what is archaeological evidence? how...
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What is archaeology?
What is archaeological evidence?
How do we collect archaeological evidence?
How do we interpret and analyze archaeological evidence?
Study of human past through material remains
“Archaeology” comes from the Greek archaia (“ancient things”), and logos (“science” or “theory
Artifacts
Ecofacts
Features
Organic materials
• Evidence about past environments
• Examples: Seeds, animal bones and soil
• Things that people made or did that can't be moved
• Examples: house floors, post holes, hearths
• Tools or other items that people made and that can be moved or carried.
• Examples: arrowheads, pottery
• Things such as animal and human bones or their fossilized remains
The time and space setting of an artifact, feature, or culture
Specifically, its position on a site, its relationship through association with other artifacts, and its chronological position as revealed through stratigraphy
A precise geographical location of the remains of past human activity
Includes… Habitation Sites: Open campsites, Villages
Caves & Rockshelters
Earthworks: Mounds, Forts
Shell Middens
Ceremonial Sites
Architectural Sites
Burials and Cemetaries
Historic Sites
Surveys
Tests
Excavations
Relative Techniques Stratigraphy and Seriation Typology and Cross Dating Fluorine Obsidian Hydration Pollen Analyses
Absolute Techniques
Radio Carbon Dating Potassium Argon Dating Thermoluminescence Electron Spin Resonance Dendrochronology
Law of Superposition: strata that are younger will be deposited on top of strata that are older, given normal conditions of deposition
Stratigraphy: the study of strata, or layers
Cross-dating: Take advantage of consistencies in stratigraphy between parts of a site or different sites, and objects or strata with a known relative chronology
Lithics are stone tools and by-products of the stone tool making process
Typological: Classification into types Emic, etic
Functional: Use-wear, residue analysis
Technological: Reconstruct stone-tool making process Raw material choice, method of reduction, re-sharpening/re-
use, etc.
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