Archaeology Chapter Summaries

Renfrew and bahn chapter one: The main focus and summary of this chapter is about the history of archaeology, as well as its present form. Archaeology has gone from discovering and finding archaeological material, to developing/applying methods to answer questions about our human past. Thomas Jefferson was the first to have a recorded excavation in 1784. By using methods such as stratigraphy and deductive reasoning, archaeologists of this time were able to touch on the deeper questions of our human past and antiquity. In Thomsen’s Three Age System, artifacts are classified into one of three eras. These three different periods of time are the Stone Age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Moreover, the Stone Age is divided into two categories, the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) or the Neolithic (New Stone Age). This strategy is one of the many methods used to help classify, and interpret the data collected.

Regarding Archaeology and its history, there are Processual and Postprocessual periods. Within the Processual period, archaeology is used to explain the past and how it has evolved. Ways of approaching this may be looking at philosophy, making generalizations, deductive reasoning, testing, and optimism. In the Postprocessual period, the neo-Marxist concept was key to …show more content…
The first step is knowing the problem of interest. For an example, during a band-society excavation a large hearth is discovered. One may question if it was used for ceremonial use or as every-day, utilitarian use. This is our problem of interest. In order to answer this question, data must be gathered and collected. Animal bones, arrowheads and spear points are found surrounding the hearth, unlike the smaller hearths containing tools and ceramics. Here a pattern is recognized and one can synthesize that this hearth has a different use than the smaller