ANTH 024 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I. Brief Introduction to Archeology Outline of Current Lecture I. What is Archeology?II. History of Archeology A. What major changes have taken place over the years?a. Ancient Archeologists b. Changing Concepts of Timec. Changing Methods of Data Collection & Interpretation d. How Did Archeology Become Part of the Anthropology Department?e. How Did Archeology Become More Scientific?Current LectureI. What is Archeology?a. Literally, the “study of ancient things” b. Can learn about the past through: i. Oral historiesii. Religious texts/narrativesiii. Archival history c. According to the dictionary: “systematic description or study of antiquities,” or “scientific study of the remains and monuments of the prehistorical period” d.II. History of Archeologya. Ancient Archeologists i. Nabonidus: a neo-Babylonian ruler whose empire was crumbling. 1. Wanted to restart some of the ancient religions2. His daughter, En-Nigaldi-Nanna, searched for ancient religious relics in order to win public support for the empire3. Found a foundation stone dated to Akkadian times 4. Considered the first documented archeologist (and she was a woman!) ii. Teotivacan: The Aztecs dug through this ancient city in order to find artifacts with which to glorify themselvesiii. Thus, humans have always been interested in the past 1. Have the capacity to imagine deep history, which is one of our most unique traits These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.iv. These ancient excavations were conducted for purely political purposesb. Medieval Archeologistsi. Believed artifacts were made by elves and other supernatural forces1. Called the artifacts they’d find “elfshot” and “thunderstones”ii. Their concept of time and evolution didn’t allow for the idea of ancient hominids1. They thought people were created exactly they were and never changedc. Changing Concepts of Timei. Jacob Ussher (1581-1656) used religious texts to determine that mankind was created on Saturday, October 29th, 4004 BCEii. Catastrophism1. Created by George Cuvier (1769-1832) 2. Reconciled geology with religion3. Stated that the earth goes through different stages4. Different catastrophes arise that destroy whatever life forms are living on earth 5. Humans were created in a divine act following the most recent catastrophe iii. Uniformitarianism1. James Hutton’s Theory of the Earth (1759) a. “The operations of nature are equable and steady”2. Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology 3. Believe that the earth functions now the same way it did in the past, and will probably continue to function the same way a. Went from thinking of time as something broken up by catastrophes to thinking of it as a continuous thing that slowly forms & changes the earth iv. John Frere’s Discoveries1. Finds ancient artifacts in Suffolk, England, in 1797a. Wonders if they were created in a time period completely different from the present b. 1st time a scientist suggested that there were ancient peoplev. Darwinian Evolution1. Not the first theory of evolution2. Provides mechanism for exchanging change/progress of humankind and how ancient humans are related to modern onesd. Changing Methods of Data Collection and Interpretation i. Careful Collection of Data in the 18th century1. Increasing interest in the classical pasta. Excavations of classical sites2. William Stukely maps ancient British sitesii. Systematic Excavations1. Thomas Jefferson conducts the first systematic excavation a. Has a set of rules, and a hypothesis to prove b. Studies mounds in North America, says that they are Native American burial mounds i. Breaks with his contemporaries, who didn’t believe Native Americans were capable of making monumentsiii. Systematic Classification 1. Christian Thomsen (1788-1865)a. Created the Three Age Systemi. Classified artifacts according to what material they were made from ii. Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Ageiv. Colonialism 1. Colonial empires believes their citizens were more “civilized” than the “barbarians” and “savages” of other countries a. Wanted to study how people could be so “different”e. How did Archeology become part of the Anthropology department?i. Americanist Anthropology: Study of “Otherness”1. Franz Boaz: father of American anthropology a. Wanted to reconstruct Native American history b. Anti-evolutionary focus on “culture” as a basis for difference 2. Anthropology studies:a. Archeology b. Linguisticsc. Social/Cultural aspectsd. Physical/biological characteristics 3. So what’s culture? a. It is learned, share, and symbolicb. Ideas, capabilities, habits acquired by someone as a member of a society 4. Material Culture a. Artifactsi. Portable objects made or modified by peopleii. Like stone tools, coins, carsb. Ecofactsi. Plant or animal remains found in association with artifacts or features ii. Like seeds, animal bones, dung, pollen, etc.c. Featuresi. Non-portable aspects of the environment made or modified by people1. Like walls, buildings, ditchesArcheological Culturesii. Groups of similarly styled artifacts were probably made by the same specific group of people 5. How Did Archeology Become More Scientific?a. V. Gordon Childe (1892-1957)i. When artifacts change, it means society changedb. Archeology used for ecological studiedc. Used for making settlement pattern analysesd. Radiocarbon dating -- more accurate datese. The “New” Archeology i. Lewis Binford & Patty Jo Watsonii. “Facts do not speak for themselves”iii. Search for covering lawsiv. Use scientific methodv. Current Ideas may be proven wrong in the