Archaeological Record

Learning Objectives1. Understand how archaeologists gather

information about past cultures.2. Understand how the archaeological

process works, and the ways archaeologists use science to explore how people lived in the past.

3. Describe how studies of material culture can serve as a form of data to improve knowledge about human behavioral variability in past and contemporary societies

Doing Archaeology

Locating Sites Excavation Dating Techniques Artifact Analysis Site & Regional Synthesis

Survey Physical examination of

a geographical regionPossible location of siteGround, aerial, GPR,

GIS

Excavation Systematic uncovering of

archaeological remains Removal of soil deposits and

other materials

Interpreting the Past Subsistence Strategies

Ecological nichesCan the environment influence

population size? How so?

Human Societies Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, & States

Interpreting the Past Subsistence Strategies

Food Collectors Food Producers

Foragers Pastoralists Horticulturists & Agriculturists

Inuit MassaiDani

Interpreting the Past Human societies

Remember Morgan, Radcliffe-Brown, Malinowski, Boas….

After WWIIArchaeological & ethnographic

information Considered: 1. Key points in social change2. Avoidance of stereotypes & ethnocentrism

Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Bands: approximately 50 people,

egalitarian, generally observed in foraging groups

Inuit

San ‘Bushman’

Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Tribes: relatively egalitarian,

sometimes a ‘big man’, generally pastoralists & small agricultural societies

Massai

Sami

Interpreting the Past: Social Organization Chiefdoms: inequalities to wealth & power,

craft production, larger population size

States: stratified society, defined territory, governmental institutions

Empires: forms when one state conquers another

Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains?

Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Artifact

Any movable object that has been used, modified, or manufactured by humans

Stone, bone, metal tools; beads & other ornaments, pottery, artwork, religious & sacred items

Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Ecofact

Artifacts that convey information on the environment

Seeds, animals bones, soil

Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Midden

Refuse deposit resulting from human activitiesConsists of sediment

Food remains & discarded artifacts

Interpreting the Past: What are Material Remains? Feature

Nonmoveable articles

Hearths, pits, or house floors

Reveal information on settlement & subsistence

Interpreting the Past: Importance of Context An artifact’s context

Specific location where it was found How it relates to other artifacts around it

Why is context important?Time & space Systemic study of the past in its

context