Chapter 2: How to Study the Human Story
Archaeology
Understanding the Past
Dating
Fossil Locations
Formation Processes
Archaeological sites
Product of natural processes that follow death
Fossil locales: Places where fossilized bone found
Locations identified through
Prehistoric environmental reconstruction
Knowing geological processes
Field surveys on foot
Archaeological evidence
Human Paleontological Evidence
Artifacts: object that has been manufactured and modified by humans.Evidence of daily life. e.g. lithic, ceramic, wood, metal, bone
Ecofacts: natural objects that have been used by humans. e.g. animals, plants, insects
Features: non-portable human made things. e.g. fireplace, hearth,houses
Provides context for understanding human behaviours
Fossils: impressions or casts of once living objects
Skeletal elements that have turned to stone
Fossils retain microscopic details of the original bone or teeth structure
Archaeologists study
Humans influenced by other culture, where and when they live
Material Culture: objects humans create and leave behind. Objects normally broken
Seeks datable, sealed stratigraphic layers and data about human culture, plus the environmental and climate context in the past
Provenience: the relationship between the material culture and where it was buried
Archaeology uses rigorous methods of recording before, during and after excavation
Documents: how it was deposited in the ground and how it was recovered from the ground
Law of Superposition: deposits built up over time in successive layers
Important for dating & understanding how sites are created
Layers of history removed by controlled excavation
Taphonomy: Study of changes that occur after organisms or objects after they are buried or deposited
How materials are deposited , altered, and affected after deposition in an archaeological site
Many processes affect preservation and survival of archaeological materials. e.g. evolution, soil chemistry, temperature and bacteria
Geographic areas of past human behaviour and activity
Site location methods
Excavating Sites
Reconnaissance
Surface: Field walking and field survey
Accidental: Road construction
Aerial photography & satellite imagery (2D)
Lidar(3D mapping)
Sub-surface assessment: test-pitting/trenching, invasive
Sub-surface scanning: ground penetrating radar, magnetometer. Non-invasive
Controlled grid system: map materials into 3D space
Tools: Shovels, trowels
Dirt: screen through 1/4 inch mesh, soil samples to retrieve tiny artifacts & eocfacts
Stratigraphy: how different layers are laid down in successive depths
Absolute Dating
Dendrochronology: gives dates in years due to annual growth rings(9000 years)
Relative dating
FUN trio: Fluorine, nitrogen and uranium.Older bones: high F U, low N. Younger bones: low F U, high N
Radiocarbon:decay of half-life of bones, charcoal. Reliable to 50 000 years
Potassium -Argon Dating:dates mineral deposits in rocks surrounding fossils. Assumes K & Ar are evenly distributed in volcanic rock. 5000-3 billion years
Fission Track Dating: Dates uranium rich deposits (not fossils)Glass/Crystals. Reliable to 5-20 billion years
Radioactive Decay:Accelerated mass spectrometry, also measures C14. dates to 80 000 years
Law of Superposition
Thermoluminescence Dating: minerals emit light when heated. fired ceramics have eliminated trapped electrons, but electrons are reabsorbed from the soil. A date can be estimated when the ceramic is reheated, by measuring light emitted. Unlimited age range.
3 main contexts: Physical(space), temporal(time), Cultural
Determining whether something is older or younger than something else based on its placement relative to another known deposit
Good Preservation: Pottery, Stone, Bone, Metal
Poor Preservation: Wood, Seeds, Fabric, Flesh
Provides age range in calendar years
Stratigraphy: sequence in which distinct layers are deposited