Prehistory of Alaska

In my opinion, the purpose of the film "Curse of the Axe", appears to be an attempt to glorify the field of archaeological research. The filmmakers attempted to demonstrate that archaeologists can teach First Nations about their history. This film suggested that the Huron-Wendat had little, to no knowledge about their past. I feel that the filmmakers, even if they depicted an interesting portrayal of pre-colonial Aboriginal history, did so in a biased manner. In contrast to the last chapter of "Ontario Archaeology" which highlighted hostile relations between Aboriginals and archaeologists, the movie made it seem as if Aboriginal communities depend on archaeologists for knowledge of their ancestors. In reality, archaeologists sometimes play a potential part in the re-writing of Aboriginal history, but this is not always the case and histories can be contested. I learned that the Huron-Wendat had a very diverse community, trading and interacting with varied and distant ethnic groups, such as the Onondaga Iroquois. This is evident from the pottery remains found in Mantle, which featured many styles from different groups within the Haudenosaunee. I also learned that there was contact, between Aboriginals and Europeans before the dawn of official colonialism, through trade routes. However, what stood out to me was the scene when the archaeologist had a conversation with the Huron-Wendat elders about their ancestors. Even though it is probable that the Huron-Wendat did not…

“During the ceremony, the officiant asked Aaron to think of all the 'laughter ' and 'good times ' he has shared with his cell phone before asking him to promise to 'honor ' and 'comfort her’.”In May of this year, Aaron Chervenak traveled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to marry his phone. He went through the ceremony in all seriousness, with guests and an officiator. Although the “marriage” is not acknowledge by the state, the actuality of the relationship is, in fact, realistic; Aaron stated…

The world around us is constantly changing. How we interact with the world around us evolves over time. Technology has forever changed our world and will continue to do so. Technology is not going anywhere and should be incorporated in all aspects of our education. Haven and Keller show different aspects of the debate of academic writing in this new era of technology. Keller points out there are positive and negative affects of technology in academic writing. Haven and Keller both understand…

I believe that when we research history it’s very important to start with the paleo-Neo era because they are the most important parts of human life. The Paleolithic era is the stone age when we had begun using stone tools. The people of the old stone age era left no written records, they only left physical remains. While the Neolithic began at the end of the last ice age this era brought out the continuation of the social and technological evolution. The people of this era began to make weapons…

The last stage of the “Old Stone Age” is the Upper Paleolithic Era. During the Upper Paleolithic Era, modern humans drastically changed the tools that were being used. The changes that were made were, leaving behind the hand axe and flake tools and gaining blade tools (Aggarwal). Blade tools were created using the punch flaking technique (O’Neil). The first step in this technique was preparing the rock core, the next step is, placing a hard pointed punch near the striking platform (O’Neil). The…

Societies worldwide are made up of several diverse elements, which are incorporated using different fundamentals frequently in a community. A component that is constantly used within every society is technology. As technology continues to advance, it has found a way to integrate itself in all aspects of life, making it a fundamental tool to utilize regularly. There is a controversial debate on weather or not humans shape technology. This debate has led to the Social Construction of Technology…

Michael Nalley ATH 102 – Midterm Essay: Processual and Post-Processual Archaeology: The basic and primary purpose of archaeology is to help us understand humans. To move toward that end, most archaeologists pursue three basic goals, each building on the other. As in all science, archaeology begins with the discovery of new information, which then must be described. Ultimately, archaeology seeks to contribute to the development of a comprehensive understanding of human behavior. At any step along…

There are five major archaeological paradigms, which include the Speculative Period that took place from 1492-1840, the Classificatory-Descriptive Period that took place from 1840-1914, the Classificatory-Historical Period that took place from 1914-1940, the New (Processual) Period that took place in the 1960’s up to the 1980’s, and the Post-Processualism that took place 1980 and present. During each period there were different interpretations of what archaeology was, there were new ideas of…

Throughout history fire was frequently used for cooking, light, heat, and weapon making. From 8000 BCE to 1900 CE, the use of fire was also changing rapidly. The invention of fire, firefighting, forging, greek fire thrown by the Trebuchet, and steam engines were major impacts on global political and social interactions. The invention of fire greatly affected and changed social interactions by changing the way humans interacted with their environment. From the first humans to 600 BCE, fire gave…

The Torres Strait Islander bone mounds are the subject of much speculation and research. The connection between the mounds and the Islanders who created them has formed the core of discussions on this subject. In this essay I will examine the usage of both archaeological practices and archaeological theory in relation to animal bone discovery. My focus will be on dugong bones in particular; looking at the pattern of sustainability their hunting has endured over time. I will assess the methods…