BASIC METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY HOW WE LEARN ABOUT

BASIC METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY HOW WE LEARN ABOUT THE PAST

Archaeological Periods and Dates (for the Ancient Near East). See handouts! 2

ARCHAEOLOGY: - In its broadest sense archaeology is the study of the human past, particularly as it is revealed through material remains; - A set of methods and procedures for investigating the past that reflect both the data that are available and the academic training and theoretical orientation of archaeologists. -Read: Textbook, “Archaeology”, pp. 22 -28 3

Archaeology and Anthropology: - In American universities, archaeology is a subdiscipline of Anthropology, a field that seeks to study humans in their various aspects: physical, cultural, social, linguistic, and historical; - Archaeology differs from most Anthropology in that it deals with dead people and with cultures in which individuals are seldom perceived; - it differs in that archaeologists study people’s works – their artifacts and places of activity – rather than the people themselves. 4

- Though Archaeology can never hope to be all that Anthropology is, it can make important contributions to both Anthropology and History by adding a time dimension that cannot be studied with living people. 5

Various Steps of the Archaeological Process: - preliminary research - problem-oriented; - surveying and mapping; aerial photographs; - digging: horizontal and vertical exposure; - recording: photographs; top plans; drawings; - removing and cleaning of objects; - the cataloging, preservation, and dating of artifacts with stratigraphy, Carbon 14; etc. ; - project database; - laboratory work on the artifacts; comparisons; - publication of the findings. 6

-The primary job of the archaeologist is not to provide us with beautiful relics, but to excavate, restore, and interpret pieces of the past; - A cycle of preliminary research, excavation, fact-finding, interpretation, and publication of findings to be shared with others. 7

Archaeology: Macro and Micro Macroscopic Archaeology: what can be seen by the naked eye – architecture, pottery, lithics, and other artifacts, for example, animal bones and settlement patterns; Microscopic Archaeology: the record that is revealed with the help of instrumentation. For example, the mineralized bodies that plants produce (phytoliths); pollen, which may shed light on paleo-environments and subsistence practices in the past; the mineral components of the sediments that may include remnants of ash from wood fires; the mineral components of ceramics; the organic molecules captured inside ceramics; the study of metal objects for reconstructing ancient production processes. 8

Carbon 14: perhaps one of the most important aspects of the micro-archaeological record Carbon- 14 concentration in organic remains that can provide a reliable absolute chronology for archaeological finds and thus help reconstruct the past. 9

The development of new analytical techniques and approaches to many different problems; The integration of field work with laboratory work including laboratory work in the field. 10

Cyber-archaeology: www. youtube. com Computers and Archaeology: Tom Levy, University of California at San Diego 11

Archaeological Periods and Dates for the Near/Middle East: 4 Handout from Stern (ed. ), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (2001). 4 See also A. Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, “Contents”, pp. v-x. 4 The Conventional Chronology and Mazar’s “The Modified Conventional Chronology”, see Textbook, p. 122. 12