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114 Cards in this Set
- Front
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State
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State: most anthropologists would agree that all states have the following characteristics: -society is divided into sharply differentiated social classes –membership is based on residence within the territory controlled by the state –one of a few individuals along with an elite group (ruling class) monopolized political power –the state’s apparatus was run by a bureaucracy of officials
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Bureaucracy
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Bureaucracy: often illustrated as a pyramidal organization with a subordinated shown as few. The subordinated are many. A bureaucracy of officials is the state’s apparatus.
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Hinterland
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Hinterland: significant in the maintenance of the urban center, especially Mesopotamia.
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Urbanism
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Urbanism: urban centers had large populations relative to the locality. Population was concentrated. The urban area, or city, contained a variety of functions including religious centers, markets, residential areas for the elites and commoners. Hinterlands were significant in the maintenance of the urban center.
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City-state
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City-State: first area identified as city-state is Mesopotamia. Temple complexes become significant institutions in these early cultures. Temple complexes become a key focus of the culture. Serve as places of worship for the populace as well as places of pilgrimage.
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Temples
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Temples: temple complexes become a key focus of the city-state culture. Serve as places of worship for the populace as well as places of pilgrimage. Temple institution served religious and economic functions. They were always the largest and most impressive building. There are episodes of enlargement and rebuilding.
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Ziggurat
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Ziggurat: preferred form of temple building, it is a stepped pyramid.
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Halafian Culture
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?Halafian Culture: part of significant cultural development. In 5500 BC, the spread of a monochrome pottery style over a wide area of northern villages were linked in some way, possibly trade
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Ubaid Culture
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Ubaid Culture: cultural period was 5300-4100 BC, in Mesopotamia. Marked by an increased reliance on canal irrigation. There was also the appearance of temples. Eridu is the earliest known Ubaid settlement –6th millennium BC and representative of this period.
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Irrigation agriculture
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Irrigation agriculture: This process assists in overcoming hazards of farming in the area: floods, drought, dust storms. It enhances disparities in agricultural productivity and land value. Disparities may lead to increasing economic stratification and thereby social stratification.
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Sumerian culture
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Sumerian Culture: Begins around 3000 BC, it is part of the Early Dynastic Period. Alloying of tin and copper led to development of bronze tools –better weapons, warfare has increasing role. Rulers become more despotic. A major city of Early Dynasty was Uruk.
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Mortuary patterns
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Mortuary patterns: in the Sumerian Dynasty, the city of Ur was a small center known for royal cemetery –excavated in 1920s by Sir Leonard Wolley. Opulent burials excavated indicating great concentrations of wealth. Spectacular artifacts include gold, lapis lazuli and silver. There were great disparities in treatment at death that indicate significant social stratification. Burials range from exceedingly lavish to burial beneath the house floor of one’s own residence.
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African environments
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African environments: Different African environments include tropical rainforest, several types of Savannas, Sub-desert steppe, Desert, Mediterranean, Montane. For much of the continent, seasons consist of a hot, dry season and a cool, wet season occupying opposing parts of the year north and south of equator.
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Cultural response to climatic fluctuation
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Cultural Responses to Climatic Fluctuations: African people have responded in a variety of ways. There have been population movements, technological innovation, a variety of food-production strategies, socio-political changes and ideological developments.
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External trade as an impetus to African state formation
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??External trade as an impetus to African state formation?: At the site of Jenné-jeno, there is evidence of such development before long-distance trade. It now appears that trade facilitated the development of the state and urbanism rather than being the original cause. External trade, particularly from the world outside of Africa, was only possible because it could tap into pre-existing internal African trade networks.
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DIffusion
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Diffusion: a perspective as well as actions that move ideas, objects, and techniques from a place of invention to people beyond its periphery; it assumes that people are fundamentally not innovative.
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Independent invention
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Independent invention: assumes a fundamental innovativeness among people.
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Upper Egypt
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Upper Egypt: (south) one of the two sections of Egypt, based on the flow of the Nile River which rises in the south and flows north to the Mediterranean.
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Lower Egypt
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Lower Egypt: (north) one of the two sections of Egypt, based on the flow of the Nile River which rises in the south and flows north to the Mediterranean. Lower Egypt has an extensive river delta.
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Eridu
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Eridu: the earliest known Ubaid settlement –6th millennium BC and representative of that particular period. It is believed to have the earliest Mesopotamian temple. Sites like Eridu exist today as “tells.” These are places of repreated occupation where deep deposits accumulate over centuries of use. By 4500 BC, the city covered 10 hectares. Their population was several thousand.
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Uruk
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Uruk: a major city in the Sumerian Dynasty in Iraq. It was located in southern Iraq. This city provides insights regarding the developments of Sumerian culture. It became a major city by 3100 BC. Earliest monumental architecture is Anu Ziggurat beginning in Ubaid period.
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Ur
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Ur: a small center in the Sumerian Dynasty that is known for their royal cemetery practices that included opulent artifacts such as gold, lap lazuli and silver.
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Queen Shub-ad
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Queen Shub-ad: Best known in the royal tombs at Ur. This queen was buried with 59 bodies who were mostly female (believed to be her attendants in life). Both queen and attendants lavishly dressed. Also, wagons, oxen and their handler also placed in the burial pit.
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Ban-po-ts'un
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Ban-po-ts’un: Neolithic village, not the oldest. But archaeological work in the 1950’s was extensive. Located on a loess terrace on a tributary of the Huang (yellow) river. About 100 houses (both circular and square), surrounded by defensive ditch.
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Rice
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Rice: African rice domesticated early, earliest evidence comes from Jenné-jeno. Local animals, reedbuck and domestic cattle, were major constituents of this diet.
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Millet
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Millet: one of the major African plant domesticates. Grain crop that was the primary crop of the people of Bon-po-ts’un
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Silk production
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Silk production: suggested production from the evidence of the Ban-po-ts’un village.
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Spindle whorls
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Spindle whorls: one of the methods of the Ban-po-ts’un village to make textiles. The presence of spindle whorls indicates the great use for fabric production
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Longshan culture
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Longshan culture: existed from 3000-2000 BC. Time of increasing political complexity, increased population growth, economic specialization, and the use of scapulomancy and oracle bones by religious specialists. In wealthy graves, as many as 200 offerings were present.
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Scapulimancy
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Scapulimancy: part of the use of the Longshan culture. It is the interpretation of cracking patterns on heated bone. This is a form of divination. No written inscriptions were found on bones used for this purpose in Longshan period sites, they are found on bones from later sites.
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Oracle bones
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Oracle bones: part of the use of the Longshan culture. Often used from turtle shells, they are oracle inscriptions on animal bones.
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Divination
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Divination: part of the process of inscription on natural materials, i.e. bone, shell, etc.
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Xia dynasty
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Xia dynasty: first hereditary dynasty (2205-1766 BC). It lasted for 471 years with 17 rulers. Not well known archaeologically. Transitional between late Neolithic and Shang dynasty. Bronze working increasingly important.
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Shang dynasty
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Shang dynasty: (1766-1122 BC) An-yang is the site from which most information comes—last capital. Borders of Shang rule unknown, but most of northern China. Warfare a preoccupation of its leaders—more for people (slaves) than territory. Millet, supplemented by wheat and rise. Large numbers employed in raising crops supported by large scale population growth or possible slaves taken by warfare.
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Zhou dynasty
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Zhou dynasty: (1122 BC to 3rd century AD) marks the beginning of imperial China. These traditions last for the next 200 years. Highly stratified society—king and court at apex; administrative functions entrusted to a group of semi-feudal lords. Political status determined by the lineage affiliation—individual towns fro lineage.
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Qin dynasty
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Qin dynasty: As Zhou dynasty weakened, Qin polity expanded . Qin dynasty relatively short-lived (221 to 207 BC). The emperor Shih Huang Ti unified China into an empire in 221 BC; ruled from Xianyang. Built Great Wall and sumptuous tomb. Destroyed feudal structure and tried to eliminate Confucian teachings.
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Han dynasty
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Han dynasty: (206 BC to AD 220) succeeded the Qin (weakened by the costs of territorial expansion and unification). Period of dense population. Continued as a unified empire byt more stable. The most extensive empire and administration known in prehistory and history.
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Mount Li
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Mount Li: 46 m long and conceived to be a universe in miniature. Rivers of the country reproduced in mercury (now a problem for excavators). Massive and astonishing displays. The parts are best known to us are actually located almost a mile east of the tomb and act as “guardians.”
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Terracotta warriors
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Terracotta warriors: excavated from Mount Li, when excavated they appeared to be tumbling but were still in tact.
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Emperor Shih Huang Ti
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Emperor Shih Huang Ti: Emperor of the Qin dynasty. Chinese legal system codified, Chinese language standardized, paper invented, road building intensified. Tomb of Emperor one of the largest in the world—36 years in the making.
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Chinese bronze metallurgy
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Chinese bronze metallurgy: Bronze working was a highly developed technology. Bronze was fashioned into vessels of various sizes and also ornaments and tools. Formal workshops were present. Molds were used to mass-produce bronze vessels and arrow points.
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Chinese writing system
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Chinese writing system: Some of the first writing is on animal bones (scapulae) and turtle bone. Features many characters (in Shang times, over 3,000 phonetic, ideographic and pictographic symbols were in use). Early Chinese writing more closely allied to ritual, political and military subjects than to mercantile issues.
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Indus valley
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Indus Valley: home to several major civilizations, such as Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Initial occupation of the area around 26,000 BC, or earlier!
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Mohenjo-daro
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Mohenjo-daro: best preserved city of the Indus civilization. At its core, the city may have covered as much as 200 hectares. Only 10% excavated. Bronze age identified. Located in Pakistan. Major structures included a possible granary or large public area and a “great bath” which was supplied from a deep well.
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Harappa
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Harappa: Begins in 3rd millennium BC. Located in Pakistan. Covers an area of over 150 hectares. This site has been studied less than Mohenjo-daro. Each of the mounds of Harappa have been found to be fortified.
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Mehrgarh
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Mehrgarh: discovered by Jean-Fraçoise Jarrige in the early 1970’s. The site was covered by silt and partially exposed by a flash flood. Site covered 2 square kilometers. Earliest occupation 6500 to 6000 BC. Emerged as a regional center of ceramic manufacture. The dead were buried in formal cemeteries. A single copper bead was recovered among grave goods. The earliest occupation is preceramic. Baskets lined with bitumen were used as waterproof containers. Mortuary evidence: exotic items of turquoise, marine shell, steatite beads.
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Sir Mortimer Wheeler
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Sir Mortimer Wheeler: (1959) believed that Indus civilization had “benefitted from a diffused idea of civilization” –he proposed an origin in Burma.
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Sir John Marshall
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Sir John Marshall: discovered the Indus civilization in the early 20th century.
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Stuart Piggot
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Stuart Piggot: scholar (1950) who proposed Baluchistan to the west, but found no evidence.
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Indus script
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Indus script: meaning is controversial. Corpus of about 2700 inscriptions. Inscriptions on steatite, marble, ivory, silver, terracotta, shell, bone and ceramic artifacts. Some artifacts bear the likeness of real animals; some appear imaginary. There are some challenges of the Indus script. No single inscription is longer than 26 signs—impossible to identify repeating sign patterns. No consensus as to the identification of the language or languages used.
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Sealstone
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Sealstone: part of the proto-urban centers that shared a number of traits
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Oceania, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
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Oceania, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia: an area of the Pacific ocean. Settlement of islands occurred through time using what we would consider to be primitive navigation methods.
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Australia, Tasmania
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Australia, Tasmania: Australian prehistory represents an independent trajectory within the Pacific Basin. The initial colonization of the continent by humans occurred around 50,000 BP. Australia continued to be a land of hunters and gatherers until the 19th century. Human populations were most dense near the coast where resources were plentiful. By 8,000 BC, Aboriginal hunters had colonized most if not all of the environments of Australia. When humans first arrived, Australia was 50% larger than it is today. In Tasmania, there were same environmental changes—from warmer/moister to drier/more variable occurred on this islands as well. The most unusual change was the complete cessation of fishing around 1800 BC. Reasons still unknown.
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Tasmanian Fishing
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Tasmanian Fishing: complete cessation of fishing around 1800 BC, reasons for this unusual subsistence shift have been debated. Why? After rising sea levels turned the Tasmanian peninsula into island, foragers exploited numerous marine resources: seals and fish. Prior to 1800 BC, archaeological remains suggest that fish comprise about 25 percent of the meat weight in the Tasmanian diet. Arguments that there were no satisfactory ecological reason to stop eating fish. Viewed this as an “economic maladaptation.” Tasmanians lost many useful arts: stone engraving, cloak making. Others argued that it was a response to altered environmental conditions; in cooler times, hunters needed fat-rich foods.
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Australian Rock Art
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Tasmanians created substantial rock art but abandoned the activity
It is thought that changes in territory size and residential locations might have influenced this change. |
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New Guinea
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Agricultural systems based on the drainage of swamps for presumed taro cultivation is seen in the highlands
Cultivation of yams, bananas, and sugarcane occurred on surrounding slopes This had developed indigenously by 4000 BC The absence of cereal grains and domesticated animals meant that early farming populations were generally scattered and small |
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Austronesians
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The migrations of this group is among the most dynamic events in Holocene prehistory in Southeast Asia and Oceania
Who were the Austronesians? They are a language group probably first crystallizing on Taiwan (nine of the ten primary language subgroups) The tenth is Malayo-Polynesian that may have Taiwan as its homeland but that went through significant changes before dispersing widely. By 3000 BC, an agricultural way of life with pottery, stone adzes, rice, pigs, dogs, and possibly chickens had spread southward through the coastal provinces of China to reach Taiwan For the next 2000 years, the archaeological record reveals a spread of related cultural complexes through the Philippines, eastern Indonesia, and the western Pacific. The Taiwan archaeological record is a remarkably rich one, continuing through the Iron Age and the arrival of mainland Chinese settlers in large numbers in and after the 17th century Prior to this time, Taiwan was an entirely Austronesian island Today, Austronesians account for less than one percent; most in the interior and rugged east coast of the island |
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La Pita Culture
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In the western Pacific, Austronesian colonists between 1350 and 900 BC left a trail of Neolithic sites belonging to the Lapita cultural complex
It is named for the distinctive sand- or shell-tempered pottery It is spread across about 6500 km of ocean and islands from the Admiralty Islands north of New Guinea to as far east as Samoa in western Polynesia |
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Outrigger canoe, double canoe
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There are two primary forms of Polynesian canoes: outrigger and double
The precise antiquity of the outrigger canoe is not known but its wide distribution plus linguistic reconstructions suggest ca. 2000 BC The double canoe appears to have been the invention of Polynesians possibly during the 1st millennium AD Double canoes served as stages for hand-to-hand combat This image shows a double canoe preparing for war in Tahiti in 1774 |
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Easter Island
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Easter Island or Rapa Nui is one of the most famous Polynesian islands
First settled around AD 900 Offers one of the best-known examples of social collapse in Pacific prehistory Its monumental sculptures (moai) were erected on stone platforms (ahu) The issue of contact between Polynesia and South America was brought into public awareness by Thor Heyerdahl as a result of the Kon-Tiki balsa raft voyage from Callao, Peru to Raroia in 1947 Heyerdahl aimed to show that Polynesia had been settled by Tiwaniku peoples from Bolivia |
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Moai
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Monumental sculpture, stone platform on Easter Island
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Thor Heyerdahl
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The Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and five companions sailed across 4,300 miles of the Pacific Ocean for 101 days before reaching land in Polynesia
Heyerdahl led a major expedition to Easter Island in 1955-56. Heyerdahl claimed that South Americans in two waves had colonized Easter Island Linguistic, archaeological, and biological research leaves no possibility of any major South American or pre-Austronesian phase in Polynesian prehistory However the position that there was no contact is untenable also |
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Franchthi Cave
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Franchthi Cave in southern Greece was occupied beginning in the Paleolithic and continuing into the Neolithic
Evidence of the introduction of agriculture into Europe After 7000 BC, domesticated plants and animals present Sickle polish on stone tools provides direct evidence of plant harvesting Inhabited from ca. 22,000 BP |
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Starr Carr
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Excavated by Grahame Clark
Located on the edge of a lake in northeastern England Occupation: 8770 to 8460 BC Hunter-gatherer encampment of the early Mesolithic period Its importance derives from the fact that the site became waterlogged and excellent preservation resulted |
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Grahame Clark
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Excavated the Star Carr
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Varna
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Black Sea Coast, discovered in 1972
Cemetery site 211 graves identified; 280 estimated An estimated 1/4th of the graves were destroyed before excavation The development of cemetery burial suggests a means of promoting greater social integration – a public arena – no longer within individual households |
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Cenotaph
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Many of the richly furnished graves contained no body (20 percent)
These cenotaphs contained 60 percent of the gold from the cemetery It is believed that cenotaphs memorialize the death of a person who died away from Varna and who may be buried elsewhere Most of the gold items (except beads and bracelets) would have been sewn onto clothing or attached to head or face |
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Charavines, "lake dwellings"
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Discovered in 1906
Initially, these kinds of sites were called “lake dwellings” When sites like Charavines were found, the settlement was thought to have been built on pilings in a lake At Charavines, hundreds of wooden posts were observed during a time when lake waters receded |
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Ice Man (Utzi)
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Radiocarbon dated to 3300 to 3200 BC
Discovered in 1991in the Italian South Tyrol near the border of Austria and Italy His body was discovered in the Similaun glacier during a period of melting accelerated by wind-borne Saharan dust in September of 1991 The recovery techniques used damaged the remains He was a man aged 25 to 45 years He had been shot in the back with a flint projectile point (below the left shoulder), a wound that is believed to be the cause of death He also suffered a deep wound to the right hand – across the palm – which may have rendered his hand useless Fur leggings and cap, fur outer garment in a poncho style, leather shoes stuffed with grass, a grass cape that could have doubled as a groundsheet or blanket His equipment: A copper axe, an unfinished bow of yew, a backpack of larch planks and hide, flint knife and scabbard, deerskin quiver with two flint-tipped arrows and 12 unfinished arrows, and a calfskin pouch Pollen indicated that his death occurred in early autumn Interpretation: The ice man may have been a shepherd who frequented the mountains and became embroiled in a local feud Blood on a broken arrow and on his leather cape and knife indicated four different blood sources It is thought that he survived the attack for several days before succumbing to the wound in his back |
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Dolmen
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One of the three types of tombs, in which a tomb is one of the three categories of megalith tombs – there are three types – dolmen, passage grave, and gallery grave
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Gallery Cave
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One of the three types of tombs, in which tomb is one of the three categories of megaliths
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Passage Cave
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one of the three types of tombs, in which tomb is one of the three categories of megaliths
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Menhir
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one of the three types of megaliths. They are large standing stones that are single or multiples arranged in a linear pattern
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Henge
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one of the three types of megaliths. Beginning in the 4th millennium, farming societies began erecting megaliths. They are formed in circles, defined by an enclosure, usually a dirch or bank; some henges were wooden.
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Stonehenge
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One of the most popular tourist sites in England
Construction apparently required a 1500 year period, from 3000 to 1500 BC During this period, the megalith was rebuilt almost constantly Stonehenge as an astronomical computer? Stonehenge is a very large ceremonial center |
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Bandkeramik culture
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Developed around the middle of the 6th millennium BC in western Hungary
Spread across the whole of central Europe Bandkeramik cultures are characterized by the pottery that gives the culture its name, long houses of fairly standardized construction, polished stone adzes, and single grave burials sometimes grouped in cemeteries. |
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Talheim
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A Bandkeramik settlement from the late 6th millennium BC
A pit feature called the “Death Pit” was exposed containing the remains of 34 individuals: 18 adults, 16 children and adolescents; at least 7 of the adults were females Most of the bodies bore traces of violence: blows from adzes were the most common, arrow wounds from behind |
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"Death Pit"
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In Talheim, Germany. A pit feature called the “Death Pit” was exposed containing the remains of 34 individuals: 18 adults, 16 children and adolescents; at least 7 of the adults were females
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Princely Centers
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By the end of the 8th century BC, most of Europe had adopted the working of iron
During this period (700 to 480 BC), the first indications of a political geography appear There is evidence for a series of “princely centers” across a broad band of central Europe from Burgundy to Bohemia Hilltop enclosures mark this period There are associated circular burial mounds down slope that contain richly furnished graves Contacts with the Mediterranean world are indicated by Greek and Etruscan pottery and metal vessels Whether these centers are stimulated by such contacts or are indigenous to central Europe is not yet clear |
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Borum Eshoj
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One of the largest Bronze Age barrows in Denmark
The original barrow height was almost 9 meters; its diameter 40 meters This site was first identified in the late 19th century (1871) when the landowner began removing soil from the mound to enrich his fields Three burials were identified All were in oak coffins The central coffin contained a man lying on a cowhide cover; his woolen clothing was preserved as was his body A young man, estimated at 20 years of age, was buried with a bronze dagger An elderly woman, estimated at 50 to 60 years of age was also present She is estimated to have stood about 5 ft 2 in tall She,too, was buried with cowhide Her woolen clothing was well preserved She was buried with a bronze shield, dagger, bracelets, and finger rings |
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Mediterranean environments
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Mediterranean – Latin for “in the middle of the land”
It is the world’s largest inland sea The Mediterranean area is one of great diversity – fertile, arable lands in the western region contrast with arid and sometimes difficult environments of the eastern region While a Mediterranean climate (wet winters and dry summers) dominates the region, the varied and broken topography of the area results in marked climatic irregularity Thus there is agricultural uncertainty and substantial risk Diversity of landscape and unpredictability of life are constant motifs throughout Mediterranean prehistory and history The overriding trajectory of cultural development is one of regional integration The Mediterranean region then is one in which we can study political evolution and cultural change |
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Sir Arthur Evans
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Sir Arthur Evans “discovered” Knossos in 1894 and excavated there from 1900-1935
Evans created the name “Minoan” for the Cretan Bronze Age |
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Knossos
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The first Bronze Age palace was erected around 3000 BC
A dense Neolithic deposit underlay it indicating millennia of occupation of the island A series of palaces were built, one atop the other, as cultural developments became more complex Knossos and other Minoan centers directed a wide-ranging trading system for a variety of raw materials Copper from Turkey and Cyprus Ivory, amethyst, carnelian, and gold from Egypt Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan Amber from Scandinavia Trade was the foundation of wealth and power for the Minoan state The palace of Knossos was destroyed at least twice The first, around 1700 BC seems to have been caused by an earthquake The second, around 1450 BC suggests overthrow by Myceneans |
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V.Gordon Childe
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V. Gordon Childe adopted a more broadly diffusionist view in suggesting that most of the significant technological, economic, and cultural changes throughout the Mediterranean region and Europe were spread from Southwest Asia (the Ancient Near East)
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Colin Renfrew
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Colin Renfrew has more recently questioned both the chronology and impact of such influences and proposed that we should look for causative factors internal to the Aegean itself
Current scholarship emphasizes the cultural links and the economic and political structures that made Crete and the Aegean active players on the western periphery of a Near East-centered “world system” |
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Mycenae
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More recent work at Mycenae has revealed that the tombs Schliemann investigated belonged to the formative era of Mycenean culture (ca. 1600 BC)
Mycenean culture reached its height around 1300 BC A range of tomb types from plain rock cut chambers to monumental tholos “bee hive” tombs have been identified |
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Heinrich Schliemann
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Excavations at Mycenae were conducted by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s
The fortified citadel has been associated with King Agamemnon, immortalized in Homer’s Iliad Schliemann discovered two “grave circles” containing rich mortuary goods One individual had been buried with a golden face mask that Schliemann believed to be Agamemnon himself |
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Mask of Agamemnon
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Excavations at Mycenae were conducted by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s
The fortified citadel has been associated with King Agamemnon, immortalized in Homer’s Iliad Schliemann discovered two “grave circles” containing rich mortuary goods One individual had been buried with a golden face mask that Schliemann believed to be Agamemnon himself |
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The Phoenecians
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The Phoenicians were a Levantine people principally based along the coast of Lebanon
Based on farming, long-distance seafaring was a significant cultural feature Phoenician cities were centers of admired craft production, particularly in glass and ivory The interaction between the Phoenicians and Greeks was significant The “Greek alphabet” was borrowed from a Phoenician model in the 8th century BC and subsequently introduced into Etruria and Rome Phoenician architecture and material culture influences can also be seen in Greek religious sanctuaries |
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Carthage
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Carthage was the most important of the Phoenician sites, the chief city of Punic culture
Located on the northern coast of Tunisia |
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Maiden Castle
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Site is associated with Celtic culture
England has hundreds of hilltop fort ruins and Maiden Castle is one of the largest Excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1934-1937) Maiden Castle was first occupied as a Neolithic camp Around 500 BC fortifications were first constructed – a single wall (univallate) The hilltop site served residential functions as well being a storehouse for surplus from the rich surrounding farmlands An estimated 4000 people may have lived there In 50 BC, shortly before the Roman invasion of Britain, the fortifications were strengthened and expanded The final conformation of defenses included three concentric embankments and two ditches – a multivallate array |
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Vix
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The Iron Age hill fort (oppidum) at Vix was associated with a lower cemetery
Excavated in 1953 by Rene Joffroy, it held the remains of a person who has been called a “princess” This 35 year old woman was buried around 500 BC in a large square chamber She was placed on a cart in the grave’s center The tomb was filled with a wealth of grave goods, many of exotic origin |
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Rene Joffroy
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Excavator of Vix, France in 1953
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Princess of Vix
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Excavated in 1953 by Rene Joffroy, it held the remains of a person who has been called a “princess”
This 35 year old woman was buried around 500 BC in a large square chamber She was placed on a cart in the grave’s center The tomb was filled with a wealth of grave goods, many of exotic origin She was buried with a bronze-headed staff which may indicate authority The richness of this burial, and the quantity of Greek goods, suggests the elite of Celtic society were receiving such goods – probably to insure continued trading opportunities |
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Oppidum
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Iron Age hill fort at Vix, associated with a lower cemetery
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Etruscans
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Etruscan culture was, until very recently, presented as “mysterious”
The Etruscan language is not an Indo-European language Thus an independent, exotic origin was proposed for the Etruscans The 5th century BC historian, Herodotus told of a westward migration from southwest Turkey (Lydia) Later scholars have argued that the Etruscans were indigenous Detailed archaeological investigations have revealed that the roots of Etruscan society lay in the later prehistoric communities of Etruria, the Villanovan culture (900 to 700 BC) External contact is clearly a factor in cultural development – Phoenicians and Greeks Etruscan culture is best known from its mortuary contexts, but larger residential settlements have been excavated – largely hilltop settlements, often well-fortified The painted tombs of Tarquinia are large shaft tombs The necropolis of Cerveteri has shaft and tholos constructions as well as rows of rectangular tombs |
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Cerveteri
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The necropolis of Cerveteri has shaft and tholos constructions as well as rows of rectangular tombs - in Etruscan culture
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Tarquinia
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The painted tombs of Tarquinia are large shaft tombs - in Etruscan culture
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Bog People, Tollund Man
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Early Iron Age societies apparently viewed bogs as sacred places
Many of the people recovered seem to have been “sacrificed” – usually strangled with cordage that was left around the neck Some of the dead were staked down in the bog after death |
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Preservation conditions
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Excellent conditions of preservation
In addition to the human remains, people also deposited “offerings” in bogs human hair has been recovered Bronze jewelry, rings were very common Weapons and jewelry of bronze, iron, and gold have also been recovered from bog sites Tollund Man, excavated by P.V. Glob in 1950, was executed in the spring, possibly as a part of fertility rites |
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Hadrian's Wall
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Hadrian’s Wall, a 120-mile stone and mortar construction crosses northern England from Leeds in the west to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the east
It was once the northern edge of the Roman Empire and Scottish barbarians occupied the area to the north The wall contains watch towers and forts at intervals along its extent A military road and a vallum (ditch) also lay behind the wall |
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Vinolanda
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Vindolanda was one of the fort settlements, a Roman military “town” at the edge of the empire
The temperate climate of the area and the fact that materials were discarded into the deep, water-filled moat enhanced preservation The first example of a woman’s writing is said to be recovered from the midden at Vindolanda It is a wax tablet inscribed with a dinner invitation A wide variety of perishable materials were recovered: clothing, footwear, cordage, wooden bowls, and military equipment |
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Direct Historical Approach
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Ethnographers trying to understand contemporary Native American groups wanted to link them to their pre-Contact past
Archaeologists could use the material culture of an extant group to trace it into prehistory |
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Profressional Organizations in Archaeology
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Every professional discipline, whether scientific or humanistic, has developed professional organizations that serve to bring the membership together, set standards for research and reporting, and conduct.
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American Institute of Archaeology
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Founded in 1879
Publishes Archaeology magazine as well as a professional journal Has promoted Classical archaeology Provides a list of field school opportunities annually |
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Archaeology (magazine)
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Founded in 1879
Publishes Archaeology magazine as well as a professional journal Has promoted Classical archaeology Provides a list of field school opportunities annually |
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American Anthropological Association
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The major organization for all Anthropologists
Includes sections for many different interests Meets annually for discussion of disciplinary matters of interest and presentation of research |
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American Anthropologist
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publication associated with the American Anthropological Association
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Society for American Archaeology
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Established in 1934
Mission: to serve archaeologists working in the Americas Meetings are annual and serve as a forum for presenting research findings from current fieldwork and |
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American Antiquity, Latin American Antiquity
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Published by the Society for American Archaeology
These are the primary journals of the Society for American Archaeology The society also publishes a newsletter The Archaeological Record |
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historical archaeology
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Society for American Archaeology Code of Ethics
The society addresses problem areas: Adherence to standards in fieldwork Proper relationships between archaeologists, artifacts, and contractual obligations Responsibilities for curation of artifacts, records, and reporting |
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Southeastern archaeological conference
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Membership in professional organizations at the national, regional, state, and local levels
Society for American Archaeology Southeastern Archaeological Conference Florida Anthropological Society Panhandle Archaeological Society |
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Register of Professional archaeologists
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Avoid programs that do not require the master’s thesis
Register of Professional Archaeologists requires a master’s thesis or comparable example of professional writing If you are in a non-thesis program, your ability to be certified may be prolonged and that may affect your employment opportunities |
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certification process
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Professional certification – after completion of the master’s degree
Evidence of master’s thesis, field and laboratory experience This is entry-level certification Continuing education is possible under Register-certified programs |
