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21 views27 pages

Chapter 1 Lecture

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antonia4799
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is Archaeology?

The Science of Archaeology


Chapter Outline

 Archaeology as Anthropology
 The Branches of Archaeology
 The Basic Goals of Archaeology
 Key Concepts in Archaeology
 Archaeology as a Science
 The Importance of Archaeology
What is Archaeology?

• Archaeology is: the scientific study of the human past.


• Archaeologists study all aspects of humanity. Looking for detailed view on culture.
• This helps us understand people today.
•Archaeologists use material evidence (aka, artifacts).
Archaeology is a Subdiscipline of Anthropology

• Anthropology is the holistic and comparative study of people in all times and
in all places.
• Subfields include: cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, linguistics, and
archaeology.
• Archaeology focuses on the people and culture of the past by looking at what
those people left behind.
Cultural Anthropology

• Cultural anthropology is the study of living groups of people and their


culture.
• Culture is learned behavior.
• People who study culture are ethnographers. Use participant-observation.
• Ethnography vs. ethnology.
Linguistic Anthropology

• Study of human languages


• Languages can be traced through time
Biological Anthropology

Study of human biology through time.


• Paleoanthropology
• Primatology
• Osteology
• Forensic anthropology
Archaeologists work closely with biological anthropologists.
Archaeology and the Other Sciences
• Archaeology is interdisciplinary
• History
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Botany
• Zoology
• Geology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Mapping/GIS
• Remote Sensing
Core Beliefs of Anthropology

• Cultural relativism: societies should be judged by their own standards (not


anybody else’s, including the anthropologist or the Western world’s).
• No people are better or worse than another, although some behaviors are worse (like
genocide).
•All societies are valid and relevant.
Archaeology as Anthropology

• Archaeology is a new discipline.


• In Europe, archaeology evolved from antiquarianism.
• In US, archaeology evolved from anthropology.
• Use scientific method.
• Goal of knowing age, data, history of artifact is to understand a group and then use that
information to understand the past.
Branches of Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• Biblical Archaeology
• Egyptology
• Medieval Archaeology
• Pre-Columbian Archaeology
• Classical Archaeology
• Maritime Archaeology
Public Archaeology

• Cultural Resource Management (CRM).


• Educate public about the past; preserve and protect sites.
• Biggest employer for archaeologists in US.
Basic Goals of Archaeology

• To understand humans.
• Answer the who, what, when,
where, and why?
• There are three broad steps:
• Discovery and description
• Explanation
• Understand Human Behavior
Discovery and Description

• Step that generates basic (baseline) information. The more detailed the better.
• What you do
-locate and investigate sites
- identify, describe, and classify artifacts
-create regional chronologies
-determine culture history and cultural chronology
Explanation

• Use information collected during the discovery and description phase to


understand WHY things are the way they are
Understanding Human Behavior

• Ultimate goal: to contribute to the understanding of human behavior


• Aspirational
The Archaeological Record
• The relationships and
patterns found in material
remains of people of the
past.

• Includes:
• Artifacts- something a
human used
• Ecofacts- nonmodified
biological materials used
by humans
• Features- nonportable
object used by people
• Sites- place used by human
Cultural Deposition and Stratigraphy

• Cultural deposition is the stuff people left behind (deposited) and how it builds
up (or not) over time. These artifacts/ecofacts are deposited in stratigraphy.
• Stratigraphy is: layers of dirt.
• Older stuff is (generally) deeper (aka, the law of superposition).
Relative vs. Absolute Dating

• A relative date is dating an artifact (or ecofact) “older” or “younger” than a known date.
• An absolute date is a specific age range for an artifact (more than just “older” or “younger.”
• Dating terms: AD/BC, BCE, BP
How Radiocarbon Dating Works
Archaeological Cultures

Cahokia Mounds (IL)

• Culture is learned, patterned, and nonrandom


• Cultural behavior is evidenced in material culture
• Archaeological culture is a working hypothesis for how a past culture
functioned (must be tested)
• Beware of overemphasizing “stuff” (artifacts)
Archaeology as Science

• Science is empirical: can be observed, measured, and tested.


• Archaeology uses physical, natural, and social sciences.
• It also uses qualitative data, which isn’t less scientific, only more difficult to
prove.
• Ideally hypotheses (assumptions) can be tested until they are proven false or
correct.
The Structure of Scientific Knowledge
• Induction and Deduction
• Deductive reasoning makes a hypothesis
and sets out to test it (aka, based on
hypothesis).
• Inductive reasoning looks at a series of
observations and then makes a hypothesis
(aka, based on observations).
• Synchronic and diachronic models
• A synchronic model describes how
something occurred at a point in time.
• A diachronic model describes how
something changed or evolved through
time.
• Using the scientific methods helps ensure
an objective understanding of nature and
the universe.
The Scientific Method
• Collect data, which are empirical,
objective, observable, and
measureable facts.
• Form hypothesis: a working
concept about the relationship
between data. It must be testable.
• Test and retest hypothesis.
• Build model: using hypothesis,
make a framework that shows how
a culture worked.
• Form theory: a systematic
explanation for observations.
• “theory” in science is different than a
“theory” in everyday life
Research Design

• Needs to include:
• Statement of research question
• Discussion of what is already
known
• Description of how questions
will be tested
• Expected data
Pseudoscience and Frauds

• Pseudoscience is the use of scientific terms to appear scientific


• The data do not meet standards
• Untestable hypotheses
•Frauds
•People fake data to try and fool anthropologists
The Importance of Archaeology
• Help predict the future • For curiosity
• Recover ancient • Show we are all
knowledge tied to the past
• Manage cultural • Aid the future
resources (those who don’t
• Appreciate ancient know history are
traditions doomed to repeat
it)
• Conserve diversity
• Dissolve prejudice
• Contribute to political
debates • Promote tourism
• Understand ourselves • It’s fun!

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