Why Archaeology? 4 reasons
- documents human history; 2. Unbiased; 3. fills in gaps between, contradicts, or supports historical documents; 4. answers anthropological questions
Historical archaeology
holistic enterprise that exists at intersections of documentary, oral,historical, and archaeological records
James Deetz
founded idea of American Historical Archaeology and archaeology of American Material Culture; promoted global perspective by exploring capitalism and its global cultural impact
Material Culture
new side of archaeology; sector of physical environment that we modify through culturally determined behavior
Site Formation Processes
aka taphonomic processes; environmental effects and human behaviors that create a site and that affect it after its original deposition
Transformation Processes + Behavior/Natural Processes
all the conditions and events that affect material remains from the time of deposition to the time the archaeologist recognizes and acquires them as data; includes natural processes (natural disasters) and human processes (bombing)
- Behavioral Processes: human activities that produce tangible archaeological remains; include acquisition, manufacture, use, deposition → acquisition (obtaining the stuff through production or collection raw materials); manufacture (processing of raw materials into something usable); use (action of employing the resultant tool or material); deposition (stuff becoming part of the archaeological)
- Natural Processes: involved creation and disturbance of sites via natural occurrences (eg. gravity, wind, hurricanes, earthquakes)
Taphonomy
study of processes that affect the decay and deposition of archaeological materials
Depositional Contexts
primary (artifact has not been disturbed since its original deposition), secondary (matrix, provenience, and/or association have been altered by transformational processes after the original deposition)
Palimpsests
example of an archaeological anomaly; process of reusing, adding to, and/or destroying the archaeological record
Research Design + Steps/Considerations
plan of operations that guide an archaeologist’s work; created in order to justify the need for research, fulfill ethical obligations, involve the public and community, and make decisions about field methods
STEPS: 1. Formulation (define research question and select a study area); 2. Implementation (research team, budget, permits, funding sources); 3. Data Gathering (what kind of data will best answer our questions and how will you acquire this data?)→ affected by preservation, taphonomy, environment, and/or human activity); 4. Data Processing; 5. Analysis ; 6. Interpretation; 7. Publication
Salvage archaeology + CRM + On-Campus Examples
archaeological investigations are one because a site is likely to be disturbed or destroyed by upcoming human activity or development
Cultural resource management (CRM) archaeology: type of salvage archaeology; archaeology that is conducted to comply with federal and state laws that protect archaeological sites
Eg. Bottle Bit of 1920s under Archaeological Research Facility; university plan observatory under Asian Studies Library; Cheney House
Gage House case study
professor interests (daily life of Gage household, any material beliefs, any conflict over gender roles/norms of Victorian periods) and Gage foundations interests (find locations of outbuildings for museum reconstruction; satisfy state and federal historic preservation laws in order to get clearance for construction of a new visitor’s center); worked together to fulfill the research interests of both while conducting the research in an open, accessible, and collaborative manner that involves the local community; Gage household was a typical middle class household but what they did with their material culture was non-normative because they practiced feminist theories and beliefs
Finding & recording sites
Archival research (maps, ethnographic accounts); Survey methods (way to systematically detect sites, features, and artifacts; can be invasive or non-invasive)
Non-invasive Survey Methods
most helpful when trying to find features in a already defined area; PRO → non-destructive and image resolution is constantly improving vs. CON → labor intensive and slow; special equipment and training needed; often only functions under particular conditions
Types of Non-Invasive Survey Methods
- Pedestrian survey: walking along the ground to see any obvious artifacts
- Remote imagery: aerial and satellite imagery; used to identify features that are not obvious to the naked eye
- Geophysical Techniques: can be passive or active; sensitive to metal anything and does not give depth of anomaly – Passive: measures effects of a buried feature on surrounding magnetic fields; magnetometer measures and registers differences in a magnetic field – Active: sends signals into ground and measures response of soil resistance (uses electricity to detect differences in soil moisture); uses ground penetrating radar
Invasive Survey Methods
PRO → probing, coring, and augering are very easy and cheap to do and serve as “windows” onto subsurface deposits vs. CON → shovel test pitting is labor intensive and slow; probing, coring, and augering only works in areas without naturally occurring stones
Types of Invasive Survey Methods
- Probing: length of wire that is pushed into the ground to locate features
- Augering/Coring: removing a column of the stratigraphy; augering tube has a larger diameter than the coring tube; both are examples of survey and excavation methods
- Shovel Test Pitting: most invasive but most informative
Sampling
process of selecting a subset of a collection for a study; helps choose where and how much to study because excavating an entire site is unfeasible and unethical
Three major decisions of sampling
- Shape and Size of Sample Units: survey area or “data universe” is subdivided into manageable sample units
- Sample size: number of sample units chosen from a data universe – sample fraction: number of samples chosen over total number of samples in the data universe
- Sample strategy: non-probabilistic/quantitative (based on prior knowledge or observations) vs. probabilistic (survey sample is representative of the total data universe)
Three types of probabilistic sampling methods of sampling
- Simple random: each sample unit within a population has equal chance of being chosen for survey
- Systematic random: first unit chosen at random, rest based on predetermined interval; avoids clumping or clustering
- Stratified: data universe is divided into distinct zones where each zone is sampled separately either randomly or systematically
Mapping + methods
provides frame of reference for recording all other context info; creates a simplified, representative version of what you see
Methods: hand-drawn, GPS, EDM (electronic distance meter; aka total station); method dependent on what scale you are trying to record
Excavation
systematic subsurface exploration of archaeological remains in order to understand the spatial arrangement of activities within sites, stratigraphy, and the actions that create the site; complements regional and macroscale surveys; takes a lot of time and money
Steps + Grid System Terminology of Excavation
Steps: Establish a grid system; conduct surface investigations
Grid system: provides a series of reference points for recording archaeological materials
Datum: point from which all measurements (both vertically and horizontally) are taken; anchor or origin point that relates the location of the site to the rest of the world
Surface investigations:
- Penetrating or vertical excavations: detailed information over localized area; shows change over time (diachronic)
- Clearing or horizontal excavations: detailed view of a single era (synchronic)
Lot vs. point provenience
Lot: all artifacts from a single excavation level are given the same provenience information
Point: 3D position of artifacts or ecofacts are individually recorded as they are exposed during excavation
