Archaeology, Lecture 2

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The accumulated material residues of past human activities and behaviors on the world

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archaeological record

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2 bodies of theoretical research

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constructs, middle-range theory

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Portable objects whose form has been modified wholly or in part by human activity

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artifacts

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artifacts separated into...

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organic, inorganic

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Non-artifactual, biological material that has cultural relevence

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ecofacts

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3 categories of ecofacts

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faunal, floral, coprolites

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fossilized feces

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coprolites

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Non-portable artifacts (made by humans) or their traces

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features

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stains are...

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...features

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A complex feature typically constructed as a focal point or space of a specific activity (e.g., living, working, worshipping)

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architecture

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5 categories of remains

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artifacts, ecofacts, features, architecture, human remains

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3 types of patterns

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sites, regions, activity areas

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most common pattern

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site

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Spatially discrete locations where there is evidence of past human activity

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site

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first define a site...

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...spatially

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3 ways besides spatial to define a site

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geographic context, function, age

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An unprotected location exposed to the elements, can contain sub-surface (not underground) deposits, which are remains that were deposited at the surface and then were buried

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open geographic context

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A single occupation site with deposits on the surface only

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surface geographic context

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A site found in an underground location (e.g., a cave)

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underground geographic context

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Can be description of number of occupations a site was inhabited (single vs. multiple use), can specifically describe the activity (e.g., hunting, pottery manufacture) or general type of site (e.g., village, temple complex)

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defining a site functionally

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An area bounded by topographic features, an area encompassing a particular culture related by cultural material

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region

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Sites where only a specific single activity occurred (e.g., kill site, chipping site)

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activity area

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How material remains end up in the arch. record

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site formation

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What happens to the materials from the time they are deposited to the time they are found?

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site transformation

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Human behavioral processes that result in the deposition of material into the arch. record

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cultural processes

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Human behavioral processes that result in the deposition of material into the arch. record

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aquisition phase of cultural process

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The manufacture of the product to be used

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manufacture phase of cultural process

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Discarding/destroying/abandoning of the artifact, ecofact, or feature at the end of its determined use-life

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discard phase of cultural process

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discard phase can occur during

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acquisition, manufacture, or use

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loss can occur during...

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...acquisition, manufacture, or use

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2 main types of transformational processes

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natural, cultural

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3 types of natural transformational processes

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chemical, biological, physical

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Explanation for an observed, empirical phenomenon

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theory

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Observations and interpretations that emerge from hands-on archaeological field and lab work

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low-level theories

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Hypothesis that links archaeological observations with the human behavior or natural processes that produced them

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middle-level/range theory

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Theory that seeks to answer large “why” questions

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high-level/general theory

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The overarching framework, often unstated, for understanding a research problem. It is a researcher’s “culture.

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paradigm

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observations made on objects

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data

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Experiments designed to determine archaeological correlates of ancient behavior

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experimental archaeology

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The study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record

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ethnoarchaeology

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The study of how organisms become part of the fossil record; in archaeology it primarily refers to the study of how natural processes produce patterning in archaeological data

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taphonomy

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The study of how organisms become part of the fossil record; in archaeology it primarily refers to the study of how natural processes produce patterning in archaeological data

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geoarchaeology

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2 objectives of geoarchaeology

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place sites in temporal context, understand site formation

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the human and natural actions that work together to create an archaeological site

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site formation

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The geological study of landforms and landscapes

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geomorphology

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The geological principle stating that, in any pile of sedimentary rocks that have not been disturbed by folding or overturning, each bed is older than the layers above and younger than the layers below (Steno’s law)

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law of superposition

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Rock formed when the weathered products of pre-existing rocks have been transported by and deposited in water and are once again turned to stone

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sedimentary rock

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Sediments transported by flowing water

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alluvial sediments

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Materials transported and accumulated by wind

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eolian sediments

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- An easily identified geologic layer whose age has been independently confirmed at numerous locations and whose presence can therefore be used to date archaeological and geological sediments (where the ash settled in this example)

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marker bed

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Sediments deposited primarily though the action of gravity on geological material lying on hillsides

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colluvial sediments

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Sediments that have undergone in situ chemical and mechanical alteration

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soil

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The upper part of a soil, where active organic and mechanical decomposition of geological and organic material occurs

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a horizon

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A layer found below the A horizon, where clays accumulate that are transported downward by water

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b horizon

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A layer found below the B horizon that consists of the unaltered or slightly altered parent material

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c horizon

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A semi-subterranean structure with a heavy log roof, covered with sod

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pit-house

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The result when one sediment is unearthed by human or natural actions and moved elsewhere, whereby the latest material will be deposited on the bottom of the new sediment, and progressively earlier material will be deposited higher and higher in the stratigraphy

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reverse stratigraphy

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A living behavioral system wherein artifacts are part of the on-going system of manufacture, use, reuse, and discard

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systematic context

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Once artifacts enter the ground, they are part of the archaeological context, where they can continue to be affected by human action, but where they are also affected by natural processes

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archaeological context

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The ways in which human behaviors and natural actions operate to produce the archaeological record

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formation process in systematic context

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primary ways in which artifacts enter archaeological record

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cultural depositional process in systematic process

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cultural depositional process in systematic context

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discard, loss, caching, ritual interment

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Human behaviors that result in artifacts moving from archaeological context back to systemic context, for example, scavenging beams from an abandoned structure to use in a new one

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reclamation processes in systematic context

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Human behaviors that modify artifacts in their archaeological context, for example, digging pits, hearths, canals, and houses

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cultural disturbance process in systematic context

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Human behaviors that recycle and reuse artifacts before the artifact enters the archaeological context

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reuse processes in systematic context

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A natural formation process in which trees and other plants affect the districution of artifacts within an archaeological site

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floralturbation

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A natural formation process in which animals affect the distribution of material within an archaeological site

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faunalturbation

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A filled-in animal burrow

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krotovina

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A natural formation process in which freeze/thaw activity in a soil selectively pushes larger artifacts to the surface of a site

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cryoturbation

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A natural formation process in which wet/dry cycles in clay-rich soils push artifacts upward as the sediment swells and then moves them down as cracks form during dry cycles

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argilliturbation

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A natural formation process in which artifacts are moved downslope through gravity, sometimes assisted by precipitation runoff

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graviturbation

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A fluvial process through which stones in a streambed or riverbed come to rest overlapping like shingles on a roof, with their upstream ends lying slightly lower in elevation than their downstream ends

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inbrication