Transcript Ch 1_Kelly Thomas_5e

Archaeology
Down to Earth
By
Robert L. Kelly & David
Hurst Thomas
7th edition
Chapter 1
Meet Some Real
Archaeologists
Outline
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Introduction
The Discovery of Deep Time
A Brief History of Archaeology
Archaeology at Mid-Twentieth Century
Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century
Conclusion: Archaeology's Future
Who is an
archaeologist?
 Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, Hunter Ellis?
 The media sensationalizes archaeology.
 Real Archaeologists:
 document everything,
 work with notebooks, calipers, and state-of-the-art
technologies,
 extract residue from stone tools, and date
remains,
 reconstruct ancient social and political
organizations, and
 analyze skeletal remains to determine diet.
Introduction
 Artifacts- ancient objects retrieved from sites that
are the primary source of information for
archaeologists.
 Archaeologists “think from things”
 The best way to introduce archaeology is through its
history.
Who Was the First
Archaeologist?
 Most historians list Nabonidus, the last king of
the neo-Babylonian Empire as the “first
archaeologist.”
 Nabonidus rebuilt temples of ancient Babylon
and searched the foundations for inscriptions
of earlier kings.
 “Nabonidus looked to the physical residues of
antiquity– things – to answer questions about
the past.”(2)
Who Was the First
Archaeologist?
 Scholars grappled with the idea of “the
past”
 Middle Age-Europe recognized a remote
past reified through myth and legend,
largely through the Bible.
 During the Renaissance, Francesco Petrarch
proposed that the remote past was an ideal
of perfection and he looked to antiquity for
moral philosophy.
Archaeology Alphabet
Soup
Acronym
Meaning
BC
(“before Christ”): For instance, 3200BC; note that the letters
follow the date.
AD
(“anno Domini”): Meaning “in the year of the Lord,” indicates a
year that falls within the Christian era (that is, after the birth of
Christ). Given the English translation of the phrase,
archaeologists place the “AD” before the numerical age- we say the
Norman Invasion occurred in “AD 1066” rather than “1066 AD.”
The earliest AD date is Ad 1; there is no AD 0 because this year is
denoted by 0 BC and double numbering is not allowed.
CE
(“Common Era”): Basically the same as AD, except that it is
intended to avoid religious connotations or privilege.
BCE
(“before Common Era”): The same as BC, but as CE, it avoid the
religious connotation.
BP
(“Before Present”):Most archaeologists prefer to use an age
estimate (with AD 1950 arbitrarily selected as zero point).
Archaeology can be
Controversial
 People and leaders have used the past to justify their
actions in the present, such that accounts of the past
conflict with one another.
 The Society for Antiquaries, dissolved in 1614 and
reformed in 1707, was the first of many British scholarly
societies interested in the relevance of the past to the
present.
 With the goal to map, record, and preserve national
treasures, members of Europe’s leisure classes
considered an interest in classical antiquities to be an
important ingredient in the“cultivation of taste.”
The Discovery of Deep Time
 Up to the 18th century, archaeological research
proceeded in accord with the tradition of Petrarch,
clarifying the picture of classical civilizations of the
Mediterranean.
 Lore at the time did not challenge the Christian
Bible as an account of the origin of the world and
humans.
 Crude stone tools discovered in England and
continental Europe, along with bones of longextinct mammals “prove the existence of very
ancient man” (Jacques Boucher Crèvecoeur de
Perthes, 1778-1868).
Boucher de
Perthes
 Challenged the understanding that the age of the earth
was no more than about 6000 years
 James Ussher (1581-1656) creation on 4004BC
 “tools” found by Boucher de Perthes were
meteorites, or produced by lightning, elves, or
fairies
 Hugh Falconer- supported the notion of coexistence
with extinct animals in 1859.
 Charles Lyell. 1863, The Geological Evidences of the
Antiquity of Man.
 Charles Darwin.1859. On the Origin of Species.
British Archaeology
British archaeology billowed out across two divergent
courses:
One direction became involved with the problems of
remote geological time and the demonstration of longterm human evolution.
The other focused on: classical archaeology – the
branch of archaeology that studies the “classical
studies,” particularly ancient Greece and Rome, and the
Near East.
Archaeology and Native
Americans
 There was much controversy in the study and theories
of Native Americans.
 Investigators began to recognize the continuities
between the prehistoric and historic populations of
Native Americans.
 American scholars saw living Native Americans as
relevant to interpretation of archaeological remains.
 Many Europeans saw Native Americans as“living
fossils,”relics of times long past.
 New World archaeology involved Euro-Americans
digging up Native Americans’ ancestors, leading to a
consideration of the ethical treatment of archaeological
remains.
A Brief History of
Archaeology
 A few individuals typify the archaeology of the time
through their careers and lives.
 Their stories demonstrate the stages in the growth of
archaeology and how goals and perspectives have
changed over time.
Giovanni Battista Belzoni: Circus
Strongman-and Early Archaeologist

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was born in Italy and
was one of the earliest antiquarians.
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Antiquarian – studied antiquities (ancient
objects) largely for the sake of the objects
themselves, not to understand the people or
culture that produced them.
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Belzoni was a circus strongman with
knowledge of hydraulics, stuck in Egypt to
become a pillager
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He used destructive methods, but took notes,
made illustrations and observations
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Interest in what ancient “things” had to tell is
the beginning of the science of archaeology
Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae:
The First Professional
Archaeologist
 Professional arcaheologists had to set out to create a chronology of
the collections generated by antiquarians.
 Jens, J.A. Worsaae, a native of Denmark (1821-1885), was
fascinated by artifacts.
 He received informal training from Christian Thomsen (1788-1865)
who devised the typological scheme of Stone Age, Bronze Age, and
Iron Age
 Introduced inquiry into archaeology: excavating to answer questions
 Demonstrated existence of middens, or trash heaps
 Documented potsherds, or fragments of pottery, along with
charcoal, bones, and stone implements
Alfred Vincent Kidder
(1885-1963)
 Graduated from Harvard with the 6th Ph.D in
anthropology and archaeology.
 Using potsherds, explained how ceramic
decoration could help determine cultural
relationships among various prehistoric groups.
 Established archaeology as “the branch of
anthropology which deals with prehistoric
peoples”: from things to people
 American Southwest Pecos Pueblo, New
Mexico
 Maya ruins of Central America
Gertrude Caton-Thompson (18881985)
Advanced archaeology, intellectually and studied
various disciplines.
Studied settlement patterns: excavated a village
site in Egypt
Conducted interdisciplinary work: surveyed the
northern Fayum Desert in Egypt, working with a
geologist
 Reconstructed the sequence of settlements
 Established their relationship to ancient lake
levels
 Established the importance of site
stratigraphy, a site’s physical structure
produced by the deposition of geological
and/or cultural sediments into layers, or strata,
to reveal age and original inhabitants
Mid-Twentieth Century
 Most professional archaeologists worked with
museums, universities, or private sector to preserve
cultural heritage.
 Most were practicing culture history, documenting
how material culture changed over time and space.
 Main goal- tracking the migrations and developments
of prehistoric cultures.
H. Marie Wormington: Ancient Man of
North America
 The second woman admitted to study in Harvard’s
anthropology department.
 First American anthropologists to enter the former
Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China.
 Among the women stereotyped as unsuited for the
rigor of archaeology
 “H.M. Wormington” conceals her gender
 First research topic was “paleoindian” archaeology
 It is not the artifacts, but the information they can
provide about cultures and people that is important.
Lewis R. Binford: Archaeology’s
Angry Young Man
 Influenced by the cultural climate of the 60s, he assumed the role
of the archaeological messiah.
 Recognized need to:
 address cultural evolution, ecology, and social organization
 make use of scientific methods and quantitative techniques
 scrutinize firsthand the operation of disappearing cultural
adaptations
 “New Archaeology,”or emphasis on the understanding
underlying cultural processes and the use of the scientific method;
sometimes called processual archaeology
Archaeology in the
Twenty-First Century
 Has several branches growing and intersecting with
the others in interesting ways.
 Today most archaeologists are employed by federal
agencies (cultural resource management firms)
Kathleen A. Deagan:
Archaeology Comes of Age
 Continued Bindford’s call for better archaeology.
 A curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History, she
specializes in Spanish colonial studies.
 Long-term excavations at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest
European enclave in the U.S.
 She is concerned with the people and culture behind the artifact
and with explaining the social and cultural behaviors that she
reconstructs from archaeology.
Archaeology’s
Future
 Public interest and
support, as evidenced in:
 National Parks and
Landmarks
 Entertainment Media
 University Courses
 Ethical issues
 Systematic scientific
study is susceptible to
cultural biases.
Videos on Archaeology
 Zahi Hawass on Archaeology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL-P-zjiCZ4
 What is archaeology?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj-Oq8vk3N4
Quick Quiz
1. Nabonidus, the last king of the neo-Babylonian
Empire, is considered the “first archaeologist.”
A.
True
B.
False
Answer: A
Most historians list Nabonidus, although he was a pious
man, as the first to look to the physical residues of
antiquity – things – to answer questions about the
past.
2. The media conveys archaeology in a valid way when
Indiana Jones is shown fighting Nazis and grabbing
gold statues from curse-laden catacombs.
a.
True
b.
False
Answer: B
The media play up the physically thrilling side of
archaeology, the mystery of discovery and potential
threats. Archaeologists conduct systematic scientific
research.
3. Which of the following is an example of an artifact?
A.
Metal tools
B.
Beads and other ornaments
C.
Pottery
D.
Religious and sacred items
E.
All of the above
Answer: E
Metal tools, beads and other ornaments, pottery and
religious and sacred items are examples of
artifacts.
4. Archaeology began as a pastime of the rich, but
through the years it developed into a professional
scientific discipline.
A. True
B. False
Answer: A
Most professional archaeologists at the mid-twentieth
century were affiliated with major museums and
universities; joined the private sector, working to
protect and conserve America’s cultural heritage.
The 20th century archaeologist was not a collector of
personal treasure.