Transcript - e-Education Institute

LECTURE 3.1
Name
History 1: Through the Neolit hic Age
Lectures
Lecture 3.1 Expe rime ntal A rcheo logy
Lecture 3.2 Rosali nd Frank li n: Graphit e and Charcoal
Requi red Book Reading 1
(For the end-of-UNIT qui z)
Part B:
Prologue
Chapter 4
Animations
Mike Fleck: "OldKil nsPottery"
Biographies
Mineral of the Week
Assignments Due This Week
Nothing du e this week
Prac tice Quiz
Practice qui z que stions are ava il able on ANGEL in the
Lesson 03 folders.
End of Unit Quiz
Quiz 3 will cons ist of ~ ten (10) que stions for a total of
thirty (30) points. Quizze s are “individua li zed” , but wit h the
que stion s taken from a large da tabase.
Material cove red: Book Reading and Anim ations
LECTURE OUTLINE
Prologue to Part B
 Some Neolithic Materials
 Experimental Archeology

THE AGES OF MATERIALS
Materials' Age
Timeframe
STONE AGE
Lower Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
Neolithic (Aceramic)
Neolithic (Ceramic)
1,500,000 BC
40,000 BC
8,000 BC
7,000 BC
CHALCOLITHIC
BR ONZE AGE
IRON AGE
Concrete Age
Steel Age
SILICON AGE
NEW MATERIALS AGE
4,500 BC
3,500 BC
1,200 BC
200 BC
1,850 BC
1,950 AD
2,000 AD
MATERIALS TIMELINE:
NEOLITHIC
Date
8000BC
Event/Discovery/Invention
Neolithic Age
The agrarian revolution begins in northern Mesopotamia; wheat and barley are grown.
Agrarian cultures also develop in the Indus Vall ey, and in China.
The first permanent villages/towns appear at Jericho (Pale stine) and in Mesopotamia.
7000BC
The first pottery is produced at Jarmo in Mesopotamia, in Anatolia and in the Levant. It is
possible that the first pottery was a clay-lined basket that accidentally fell into a fire, resulting
in a fired clay shell.
Almost 50% of the tools at Jarmo are made of Anatolian obsidian.
Bitumen (a natural polymer) is being used in Mesopotamia as a mortar, and as a
waterproofing for boats and reed huts. A small number of copper artifacts (most likely native)
are found at Ali Kosh.
Woven cloth (made from a natural polymer: cellulose fibers) is made in Anatolia.
The Natufian culture is widespread in the Levant.
Mortar is used with sun-dried bricks as a building material in Jericho. Jericho is an oasis town
and probably traded in salt, sulfur and bitumen: it is surrounded by a stone wall, 3m thick and
4m high with a circular tower, 10m in diameter and 8.5m high with a solid stone core.
6000BC
Catal Huyuk in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) flourishes as an urban Neolithic community.
Locally found obsidian (a naturally occurring, volcanic glass) is traded throughout the Middle
East.
Jericho imports materials such as obsidian (from Anatolia), turquoise (from Sinai), jadeite
(from northern Levant) ochre, malachite, hematite and flint.
High quality pottery for kitchenware is produced, by the Hassuna culture in Mesopotamia.
Trade develops from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. The Ha ssuna add straw to clay,
for added strength, during building. Tools are still made of stone and bone.
Jade is used in China. It is shaped by grinding, using bamboo drills and quartz sand.
5000BC
Gold, silver and copper nuggets (naturally occurring or native) are fashioned into jewelr y in
e.g., the Balkans.
PIVOTAL INVENTIONS:
NEOLITHIC AND URBAN
Agricultural
Technology
Language Arts/
Communications
Materials
Technology
Architectural
Technology
Mathematics/
Science
Agriculture
(9000/M)
Writing
(3500/M)
Woodworking
(?)
Religious Shrines
(5000/M)
Solar Cale ndar
(4200/E)
Animal Husbandry
(9000/M)
The Wheel
(3300/M)
Pottery
(7000/M)
Monumental
Building
(5000/M)
Lunar Calendar
Artificial Irrigation
(6000/M)
Sea-Going Craft
(3200/E)
Orchard Husbandry
(4000M)
Textile
Production
(7000/A)
Copper Smelting
(4500/A,M,L)
The Plough
(3300/E)
Glaz ing
(4000/E)
Fermentation
(3100/E)
Firing Bricks
(4000/M)
Bronze Smelting
(3500/A,M,L)
Potter's Wheel
(3300/M)
Numerical
Notation
(3000E)
EARLY CIVILIZATIONS
CIVILIZATIONS AND RIVER
SYSTEMS
River System
Tigris-Euphrates
Nile
Indus
Yellow River
Civilization
Sumerian1
Egyptian1
Harappan 2
Xia/Shang3
Beginning Date
~ 3,500BC
~ 3,200BC
~2,500BC
~2,000BC
THE FERTILE CRESENT
THE FERTILE CRESENT
INDUS VALLEY AND YELLOW
RIVER
FLINT AND OBSIDIAN
STONE TOOLS
MAKING PLASTER
POTTERY
POTTERY KILNS
RECREATING THE PAST, OR
“FIRE: THE FOURTH
ELEMENT”
The Production of Charcoal
The Firing of Clay Ceramics
TEMPERING A WOODEN
ARROWHEAD

The wood is partially carbonized, a)
 The fully carbonized, outer layer is
sloughed off, b)
 A sharp, relatively hard arrowhead
results
TRADITIONAL CHARCOAL
FURNACE
PROCESSING CHARCOAL I

"Edward [an old forester]
would find a site which had a
clay soil content, then measure
the area with his boots to a size
of between twelve and sixteen
feet in diameter. He would then
dig out the area to a depth of
18 inches. He would then
carefully build the stack,
starting with a tripod four feet
in height at the center, which
formed a chimney.
PROCESSING CHARCOAL II

Lengths of wood were then
added in a system of tiers
designed to give the stack a
semi-circular profile. Edward
would
then
cover
the
construction with turf or soil,
taking care to leave small
vent holes every three feet
around the circumference of
the pit. He would fire the pit
by dropping an amount of
charcoal embers down the
fire hole in the center."
PROCESSING CHARCOAL III

Removing the central peg
PROCESSING CHARCOAL IV

Edward would then
cover the construction
with turf or soil, taking
care to leave small vent
holes every three feet
around the
circumference of the pit.
He would fire the pit by
dropping an amount of
charcoal embers down
the fire hole in the
center."
PROCESSING CHARCOAL V

Success! The
wood at the
center of the
stack is ~
100%charcoal.
MODERN CHARCOAL FACSIMILE OF A
PALEOLITHIC CAVE DRAWING
TELL HALAF AND THE
CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION
POTTERY FROM A NEOLITHIC
SETTLEMENT IN MESOPOTAMIA

Pottery Shard from
Tell Halaf, ca.
5000BC
 Sample courtesy of
the Matson Museum
of Anthropology, PSU
TELL HALAF POTTERY:
OUTER SURFACE
TELL HALAF POTTERY: INNER
SURFACE
AN ATTEMPT (FAILED) AT
FIRING POTTERY

The temperature is
measured
TEMPERATURE-TIME PROFILE FOR
THE FIRST FIRING
MICROSTRUCTURE OF “CLAY
CERAMIC” BEFORE FIRING
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
MICROSTRUCTURE OF “CLAY
CERAMIC” AFTER FIRST FIRING