...Interpreting Antiquity Archaeology 1- what is archaeology and ancient history? Archaeology- the study of past cultures through their material remains Archaeology and ancient history? Material remains vs written records Contrast ‘pre history’ Texts written by ancient writers about the Greek and Roman past - Herodotus, Polybius, Tacitus, Livy Mostly survived as manuscripts copied by medieval monks- NOT found on archaeological sites Exceptions- some that combine archaeology material evidence and historical written records Eg Inscriptions- written records (on stone, bronze etc) AND material remains (eg a statue base with inscription on to Lucius Licinius Primitivus, Misenum, Italy) Kinds of material evidence: Pottery, building foundations, human/faunal remains, weapons, tools, coins, floral remains, fruit seeds, fish bones, works of art (tell us about myth, culture, games etc) Culture - human behaviour in societies- religion, economy, military, entertainment, political, social stature, food preparation and eating, death and burial Archaeology vs collecting and antiquarianism Archaeology involves the study of material remains for a reason =in order to study culture Contrast with collecting and ‘antiquarianism’ – in which the objects collected are themselves the sole focus of interest Archaeology and History Archaeology and history are not the same History deals primarily with written evidence Archaeology deals primarily with material evidence We must...
Words: 322 - Pages: 2
...Michelle Heatherly Archaeology and Ethics 11/15/12 Student Id: 5920 mheathe3@utk.edu Anth 120- 004 There are many similarities in the ethical statements/codes of the SAA, SHA, AIA, and RPA. The ones that pertain to this case are as follows: it is the responsibility of archaeologists to work for the long-term conservation and protection of the archaeological record (SAA 1, AIA 1, RPA 1.1-e). The buying and selling of objects out of archaeological context is contributing to the destruction of the archaeological record around the world, and these items should not be traded, sold, bought, or bartered as commercial goods (SAA 3, SHA 6, AIA 2, RPA 1.2-e). Within reasonable time, the knowledge archaeologists gain from sites must be presented in an accessible form, also the documents and materials on which publication are based should be deposited in a suitable place for permanent safekeeping (SAA6, SHA3). And Finally it is the responsibility of archaeologist to inform appropriate authorities of threats to plunder archaeological sites, and illegal import or export of archaeological material (AIA3, RPA 1.2-c) In this particular case, the local employees in question did not want to conserve or protect the archaeological record. The text quotes “At the time, they hid the pots inside a tree trunk.” This breaks an ethical code which is prevalent throughout many different societies and organizations. The archaeologists should not have hidden the artifacts in...
Words: 1357 - Pages: 6
...Archaeology is often referred to as the handmaiden of history. The two studies are integrally connected. While archaeology needs history to give it a basis of theories and experiments, perhaps archaeology is more vital to history. What is known about history was discovered through the practice of archaeology. No one living today can tell what it was like living hundreds, thousands, even millions of years ago. Archaeological resources are the only window into the far past. This is why it is so troubling that archaeological resources are under such great threat today. Under threat from uncontrolled antiquities markets, violence, political and economic agendas, and even the archaeological community itself. This destruction has been ongoing since...
Words: 1568 - Pages: 7
...Sneha Negandhi 1 Archaeology Theory and Methods: Harappan Civilization. Archaeology is defined as the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains by the Oxford dictionary. In simple terms archaeology is the study of ancient and human past using material remains, like the artefacts and ecofacts. The artefacts are defined as the object made by human being, typically one of culture or historical interest1. To study the past, one needs to excavate the sites to find the artefacts. An archaeological site is any place where physical remains of past human activities exist2. A site can be as small as some stone tools with the human skeletons or as large as the Indus valley civilisation. These sites are broadly classified under two categories. The first ones are, based on the archaeological culture such as proto-historic, historic and pre-historic. The prehistoric archaeology is the study of past before the historical records began. The artefacts found here are mostly the stone tools including spear points, arrowheads, knives, stone axes etc. The Stone Age and the hunter- gathers are the examples of the pre-historic sites. It begins with the human behaviour of manufacturing the stone tools and ends with the fully modern human hunting and gathering socities3.The Protohistoric archaeology refers to the study of regions or periods using the archaeological methods where only a partial or very limited historic...
Words: 1720 - Pages: 7
...Kathleen Kenyon was an influential British archaeologist whose legacy still lives on today. She was born on January 5th, 1906 in London. She spent most of her early years in the West London area. Kenyon was first introduced to archaeology in Oxford University and later became the first female president of the Oxford Archaeological Society. But she didn’t stop there. After graduation, she participated at a site in Zimbabwe with her father and Gertrude Caton-Thompson then an excavation at Roman Verulamium, or modern day St. Albans with Mortimer Wheeler and his staff. Later on, when Kenyon had much more experience, she was invited to review John Garstang’s findings from the ancient city, Jericho. Garstang’s goal was to find archeological proof...
Words: 361 - Pages: 2
...What is the ‘Georgian worldview’ and how has this concept influenced the archaeology of eighteenth-century North America? The ‘Georgian worldview’ is a theory that uses a study of cultural development to determine the thoughts of the eighteenth-century North Americans. It was initiated by James Deetz in his first edition of In Small Things Forgotten (1977). The term encapsulates Deetz’s structuralism-based idea that the evident alteration within English material culture and landscape design was more than a change in style, but a universal change in human consciousness—from medieval to modern—and this extended across the Atlantic despite the colony’s increasing political distance from the homeland (Deetz, 1996: 62-63; 2003: 221). Deetz believed that shared artefact form reflected shared thought (2003: 220). The theory has enabled historical archaeologists to recognise a distinctive shift in many areas of material culture which subsequently encouraged a succession of scholars to further this idea by posing key questions: why did the worldview develop, where else was a Georgian worldview visible, how did it present itself in areas outside New England? In the quest for answers to these questions, archaeologists have developed the concept which accordingly shaped interpretations of the material discoveries of eighteenth-century North America. Deetz’s model for the cultural development of New England illustrates that following an interval (1660-1760) of limited English...
Words: 3625 - Pages: 15
...Archaeology Dig By: Smith Largent Culture Name: Santu Geography: Warm weather, occasional typhoons, very good soil, Island, smaller islands surrounding it, palm trees, in the Pacific Ocean, manmade and natural made caves. Values: The Santu people value their family and animals they have farms with dogs and cattle and chickens. They do not value money or currency for it has no worth. Traditions: Every blood moon they select the two oldest children of the island to be sent out into the wilderness with a bow, a torch, and cooked chicken meat rapped in palm leaves. First one to return to the island with the biggest game wins. The winner gets to live in a special village side beach served with pina coladas and other delicacies. Religion: They believe that the great god Cthulhu rules the see and the Chupacabra rules the land at night and that the Wendigo rules the forest. They worship all of these creatures for fear if they do not they will be hunted by day and night. They believe if you help throughout the village that when you die you will live in the stars but if you are bad and kill, steal and destroy that you will have a giant boulder tied around your foot and you will be thrown into the ocean and have the feeling of constantly drowning. Economy: The Santu people use basic trading for their economy they do not believe in currency because they believe it has no value. The most valuable tradable items is food and cattle. Family: All Santu people...
Words: 485 - Pages: 2
...She is one of the best-known crime writers of all time but few know the extent of Agatha Christie's archaeological pedigree. Married in 1930 to eminent archaeologist Max Mallowan, Christie spent two decades living on excavation sites in the Middle East, writing her crime novels and helping out with her husband's work. Travel by boat and on the Orient Express to far-flung places such as Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad inspired some of Christie's best-known works of detective fiction, including "Murder on the Orient Express," "Death on the Nile," and "Murder in Mesopotamia." Now, 3,000-year-old ivory artifacts recovered by Mallowan between 1949 and 1963 from the ancient city of Nimrud, in what is now Iraq, and likely cleaned by his famous wife using cotton wool buds and face cream, go on display Monday at the British Museum in London. Nimrud was a city in the Assyrian kingdom, which flourished between 900-612 B.C.. The ivories found by Mallowan and his team were originally made in what is now Syria and Lebanon and brought to Assyria as looted treasures. John Curtis, keeper of the Middle East collections at the British Museum says they make up "the finest collection of ancient carved ivories that have ever been found at an archaeological excavation" and are in good condition, possibly because of Christie's efforts. "Face cream in fact is quite a good thing to clean (artifacts) with. Obviously conservators now wouldn't use that but I don't think it's done (the pieces)...
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
...Underwater Archaeology Data Collection by means of ROVs G. Conte, S. M. Zanoli, D. Scaradozzi and L. Gambella (gconte, s.zanoli, d.scaradozzi)@univpm.it; gambella@diiga.univpm.it Abstract This work describes the procedures and methodology employed for gathering data from submerged sites of archaeological interest. Main objectives are to develop, test and validate solutions that simplify the work of archaeologist by employing unmanned robotic vehicles and automatic procedures that can be applied to deep water sites that are not reachable by divers. This activity is part of the European Research Projects VENUS and Newton UPGRADE and this work is about operations and tests carried out in the field of the Underwater Laboratory Project of Marlin Tremiti diving center in San Nicola Island, Tremiti Archipelago, Italy. Problem Statement The problem concerns the design, test and development of a set of Amphora procedures and best practices for collecting data from underwater archaeological sites by employing robotic vehicles and automatic devices under the supervision of archaeologists and engineers, possibly in cooperation, under some circumstances, with diROV vers. The kind of data one wants to get while navigating consists, essentially, of a set of geo-referenced pictures in photogrammetric quality in order to construct a 3D model of the explored area in a virtual environment with a specified level of precision. LabView softwares and suitable dll function perform all this...
Words: 1083 - Pages: 5
...with both archaeologists and the GSA for one main reason, the financial drain. Any delay in the project costs both parties precious financial resources that could not be squandered despite these concerns the African community was apprehensive that “the African Burial Ground would not be given the reverence it deserved”(“African Burial Ground Memorial, New York, NY”). Another conflict arose between the archaeologists and the GSA again over the issue of funds. In his interview with Archaeology magazine in 2003, Blakey describes how they were forced to “wrestle with the GSA for the simplest of things.” Many of the issues that arose during this project were linked to the finances. Some of the conflicts that raged between the archaeologist and the African American communities were put to rest with the appointment of Blakey to direct the project. He not only listened to their concerns but also understood the worries and concerns that the community had for the remains of their ancestors. In the Archaeology interview his care and respect for the deceased was clearly evident in the way that he talked about case 101 and the sankofa symbol that decorated his coffin. Tensions were also eased between the GSA and the community when roughly one-third of the space originally intended for the construction of the office building was appropriated for a monument to the men, women, and children buried there. Research The archaeologists who worked on the African Burial Ground were interested in the...
Words: 1138 - Pages: 5
...Mistakes are key to history because if no one made mistakes we would never learn anything other than what we already know. Schliemann made many mistakes he was dishonest, he loved to have a profuse amount of money for himself, he was selfish, he took all the credit when he worked with others, and he loved to trick people. Schliemann made many mistakes digging up the lost land Troy he took almost all the credit from Calvert and he ruined key evidence that could've proven that the lost land of Troy was near. Schliemann made most of his fortune in the Gold Rush which lead him to his 2nd career which was archaeology. Schliemann loved traveling and learning so much that he named his children Agamemnon and Andromache, he also could speak 13 languages...
Words: 387 - Pages: 2
...ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL REPORT OF USHONGO, IN USHONGO LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA By SALIHU SULEIMAN .G. U09AY1054 GROUP THREE AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA NIGERIA DEPARTMET OF ARCHAEOLOGY FACULTY OF ARTS COORDINATED BY: DR. M.K. ALIYU DR. C.S. BANKINDE Mr. Bako MAY, 2011 DEDICATION To God be glory. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My gratitude goes to my beloved parents, friends and entire family for the moral and financial support for the field school to post-field school. May special thanks goes to my lectures, the coordinators of group three Dr. M.K. Aliyu, Dr. C.S. Bakinde, Mallam Bako and AbdulAkeem Suleiman Dahiru Aliyu & Mum, Abdulrashid sa`eed, Rufa`I Abdulrahim, Murain Abdulraheem, Ise bro for their support too. May almighty Allah reward you abundantly. Amin. CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION This is an archaeological report on activities conducted during this year field trip to Ushongo, Benue state by Group 3 of department of Archaeology Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. This activities was carried out on 7th May 20011 to 13th May, 2011, this involved the used of reconnaissance, survey, collection of oral tradition, ethnography. The archaeological field school is an annual exercise designed for 200, 300, and 400 level Archaeology students. 2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this report is to sum up every activities that was done during the field school. Although the main objective of every field school is to familiar student with challenges face at...
Words: 4678 - Pages: 19
...Question 1: Archaeology is the study of the past through its material remains, (Johnson 2010, 1). This includes field studies, excavations and interpretations. Interpreting the past is a very tricky business. “Humans have always speculated about their past, and most cultures have their own foundation myths to explain why society is how it is,” (Renfrew and Bahn 2012, 22). Anthropology is ripe with theories. Theory is a hard term to define with regard to archaeology, but essentially it is an interpretation of the past based on material data analysis. Archaeological site interpretation is a fundamental aspect to understanding the past. An archaeological narrative cannot be determined by lining up material data from the past and only...
Words: 1640 - Pages: 7
...decision making process should be aware of the types of archaeological resources in their stewardship and should be knowledgeable of the best management practices for these sites. In response to the growing need to assist land managers in protecting cultural resources, the Bureau of Archaeological Research (BAR), in conjunction with the Florida Park Service, developed Archaeological Resource Management (ARM) training to assist state land managers with management of the state's irreplaceable archaeological resources, which include pre-European mound sites, villages, and camps, colonial settlements, battlefields, and submerged sites. The ARM training course introduces state land managers to the nature of archaeological resources, Florida archaeology, and the role of the Division of Historical Resources and Bureau of Archaeological Research in management of state owned archaeological resources. Participants will gain a better understanding of the requirements of State and Federal laws with regard to protecting and managing archaeological sites on state managed lands. They also will become better aware of the historic properties and archaeological sites that they manage. Finally, attendees also learn how and when to monitor and pre-test ground-disturbing projects on their managed areas. To successfully complete the course, participants must carry out a small field exercise getting to know the archaeological sites on properties that they manage. Those who successfully finish the training...
Words: 495 - Pages: 2
...believed that this culture was in existence some 4500 years ago. Where did the knowledge of the life style of the ancient Egyptians, their religious practices, their culture, their language and their houses, clothes and weapons come from? Could the past possibly have talked to the producers? 3. I am sure these questions must have surfaced in your minds also. If I was to answer these questions, I would say, yes, the past can talk to us. But only through an interpreter. This interpreter is called an ‘ARCHAEOLOGIST’. 4. Good morning lady and gentlemen, today I shall talk briefly on the subject ‘Archaeology’. Although the subject of digging into the past of the planet earth has extremely wide scope, I shall restrict myself to the history of man, only. AIM 5. The aim of my talk today is to explain to you in brief, what is meant by archaeology, to give you a brief idea about the work of an archaeologist and the manner in...
Words: 2656 - Pages: 11
