Archaeology

• Archaeology studies the human past through material remains, focusing on culture as shaped by materials (cultural materialism).
• Anthropology studies humankind past and present, taking a holistic and comparative global perspective.

Ethical Issues in Archaeology

• Archaeology can involve ethical issues, particularly with human remains, assignment of artifacts to a culture, looting, and illegal trade.

"Moundbuilder Myth"

• The "Moundbuilder Myth" refers to the incorrect idea that Native Americans were not intelligent enough to build mounds, attributing them instead to a lost European civilization.

Importance of Squier and Davis

• Squier and Davis's work was the foundation for modern American archaeology, establishing rigorous documentation methods through site surveys, drawings, and descriptions.
• Their observations discredited myths, emphasized careful description, and rejected romantic speculation.

King Nabonidus' Importance

• King Nabonidus is important for looking at physical remains to answer questions about the past, studying the Babylonian Empire and tracking past kings.

Charles Darwin's Work

• Charles Darwin's work expanded the conception of time beyond biblical narratives.

"Americanist Archaeology"

• "Americanist Archaeology" focuses on the native/indigenous communities of America.

"New Archaeology"

• "New Archaeology" emphasizes scientific and theoretical approaches, using the scientific method to understand cultural processes and societal change, key figure - Lewis Binford.

Artifact

• An artifact is a material remain modified by a human being.

Research Design

• A research design is a document archeological researchers create before fieldwork to define goals, questions, sampling methods, lab analyses, artifact curation, and dissemination strategies.
• Research designs provide grounding and serve as a study guide for approach and analysis.

Analytical Levels

• Analytical levels in archaeological interpretation follow the ODE method: Observe, Describe, and Explain.
• Observation focuses on location, layers, and features.
• Description classifies findings into types, functions, and phases.
• Explanation focuses on interpreting cultural and social changes/characteristics.

Reasoning

• Inductive reasoning starts with specific observations and expands to a general idea.
• Deductive reasoning starts with a general idea and grounds it to a specific point.

Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a statement that explains the possible outcome of an experiment.

Subdisciplines of Anthropology

• The subdisciplines of anthropology are cultural, linguistic, physical, and archaeological.

Emic vs. Etic Interpretations

• Emic interpretations aim to understand from an insider's perspective.
• Etic interpretations offer an outsider's perspective, using the researcher's lens.

Chronology

• Chronology is important but should be subject to constant revision. It is an interpretation, not an absolute truth.

Synchronic vs. Diachronic

• Synchronic approaches study events happening simultaneously without considering historical change.
• Diachronic approaches examine events across periods of time, considering societal changes.

Diachronic Approach in Biology

• An example of a diachronic method in biology is species evolution because their adaptability allows them to exist even with changes that happen.

Periods in Archaeology

• Speculative (1492-1840): Material analysis.
• Classificatory-Descriptive (1840-1914): Focus on chronology, categorizing, and systematic description.
• Classificatory-Historical (1914-1940): Emphasizes layering to develop chronologies, records of findings, and careful field methods. Context and function of artifacts studied.
• Explanatory (1940-present): "New Archaeology" with scientific methods to understand underlying processes of stability and change.

Thomas Jefferson

• Thomas Jefferson represents the speculative period, promoting fieldwork and artifact analysis with early scientific approaches.

Ethnohistory

• Ethnohistory combines written records and oral traditions to study past cultures, providing cultural and historical context for interpreting material remains.

Chronological Charts

• Chronological charts are visual representations of the sequence of events, cultures, and periods over time.

New Archaeology Perspective

• New Archaeology is a period when archaeologists took a dramatically different perspective, emphasizing hypothesis testing, quantitative analysis, and theories from anthropology and systems thinking, shifting from descriptive to explanatory approaches.

Archaeologists engaging other scientists

• During the "New Archaeology", archaeologists found it important to engage other scientists due to the need for specialization and attention for different research areas, leading to incorporating methods and theories from fields like anthropology, biology, geology, and environmental science.

Manuport

• A manuport is a material remain moved by humans but not modified.

Midden

• A midden is a deposit resulting from human activities, containing sediment mixed with food remains and discarded artifacts.

Feature

• A feature in archaeology refers to non-movable artifacts.

Ecofact

• An ecofact refers to a non-artifactual ecological remain found in sites, providing clues about past lifestyles.

Stratigraphy

• Stratigraphy studies layers of soil, sediment, or rock at a site, helping archaeologists understand the chronological sequence of human activity.

Archaeological Record

• The archaeological record includes all physical remains of past human activity preserved in the environment, including artifacts, structures, features, biofacts, and ecofacts.

Prehistory

• Prehistory is the analysis of time using non-written data.

Historical Archaeology

• Historical archaeology analyzes time using written data.

End of Prehistory

• Prehistory ended at different times, generally starting with written records. S. Iraq (3000-2500 BC), England (with Christianity), and the Americas (after European contact 1492-4).

Systemic and Archaeological Contexts

• Systemic context involves how a society used artifacts in environmental and cultural settings (Use)
• Archaeological context is the situation of artifacts and features after removal from their original systemic context, including their position in the soil, stratigraphy, and relationship to other artifacts (Preservation).

Excavating Activities and Behavior

• Archaeologists do not excavate activities and behaviors directly; instead, they excavate artifacts to reconstruct behavior later on.

Cultural Transforms

• Cultural transforms involve changes made by humans on purpose.
• Example: moving an arrowhead from one place to another.

Natural Transforms

• Natural transforms are changes occurring to an artifact due to natural processes.
• Example: a rodent moving an artifact from a deeper soil layer to a higher one.

Middle-Level Theory

• Middle-level theory connects artifacts with human behaviors and activities, helping archaeologists interpret the past.

Middle-Level Studies

• Experimental studies: conducting activities for archaeological interpretation based on direct observation.
• Ethnoarchaeology: ethnographic research for insights into past behavior by observing current-day people.

Ethnoarchaeology Definition

• Ethnoarchaeology combines field research with ethnography to understand patterns within societies in specific areas similar to the ones being studied.

Lithic Usewear Analysis

• Lithic usewear analysis studies wear patterns on stone tools to determine their use, dating tools and usage appropriately.

Replicative Studies

• Replicative studies involve researchers simulating activities thought to be performed with artifacts to understand the methods used back then and test hypotheses.

Peter Siegel Class 2025