WEEK 1 Anp is cross cultural and holistic Three goals of archaeology: - Development of chronology (answers who and when) - Reconstruction of past lifeways (answers what and how) - Examination of culture process and change (answers why) These goals can be used as a frame to show the history of archaeology - Have to organize (Christian thomsen and his 3 age system) stone age, bronze age, iron age. - Then can answer questions about ways of life - Finally can ask why - First 2 are issues of explication and last is one of explanation How We Talk About Time BC- before Christ/ AD- Anno Domini- In the year of the lord indicating that is after the birth of Christ CE- Common Era same as AD but done to avoid religious connotation BCE (before common era) BP- before present age estimate with AD 1950 chosen as arbitrary zero point Different kinds of Archaeology - Prehistoric archaeologists - Historic archaeologists - Classical archaeologists - Egyptologists - Biblical archaeologists - Underwater archaeologists - Industrial archaeologist - Ethnoarchaeologists - Anthropological archaeologists - Cultural materialists - Structural archaeologists - Ecological archaeologists - Evolutionary archaeologists - Postprocessual aracheologists-most current type reflective on current society - Psuedoarchaeology- using archaeology for their own personal interest. Nabonidus- first archaeologist, very interested in ruins and old temples Franceso Petrarch (1034-1374)- father of humanism Ciriaco de Pizzicolli (aka Cyriacus of Ancona) established modern discipline of archaeology Archeology can be controversialBoucher de Perthes (1788-1868) discovery of deep time Archbisop Ussher- creation began @ sunset Sat Oct 22, 4004 BC Charles Lyell- theory of uniformitarianism geological processes same now as they were in the past Year of 1859 was significat one- theory of evolution published, Charles Darwin Link between Darwin, biological evolution and cultural evolution Formal Theories of Cultural Evolution- sir Edward Tylor- savagery, barbarism, civilization. Lewis Henry Morgan- refined tylors stages based on technological advances Defined evolution in terms of material culture and traits, not time or dates Development of Archaeology- British archaeology went in two directions: remote time, human evolution, classical archaeology American archaeology was tied to living in native people and subsequently anthropology Antiquarians Giovanni Belzoni Christian Thomsen- three age system JJA Worsaae first professional archaeologist- middens, potsherds The profession of archaeology- began is later 19th centur, heinrich Schliemann was one of first he had problem orientation was looking to reconstruct past lifeways, stratigraphic excavation became important during this time, technique in excavation improved. In America- mounds, who built them resovled by cyrus Thomas of Smithsonian in 1894. Frederic Putnam, Peabody museum historic preservation legislation. In early days not much theory in archaeology but lots of excavation being done. Thomas Jefferson. Squier and Davis documented mounts of Mississippi. Stephens and Catherwood mounds in Mesoamerica. Myth of moundbuilders. Mounds are on high points of wetlands. Cahokia- monks mound 100 ft high, 100 acres at its base Myth of mound builders- those moving in did not believe that the mounds were built by Indians so they believed they were built by a more advanced culture. These mounds were created by ancestors of native americans. Developments 1900-1960 remote sensing, excavation controls, context law of superposition, law of association, screening, piece plotting. Dating techniques- chronoetric and relative, archaeometry or science and archaeology. AV kidder founder of anthropological archaeology born in Michigan, southwest us aerial photos moved from things to people. Concept of diffusion, environmental determinism, ecology, regional approach. Classification francois bordes. Gertrude caton Thompson 1888-1985n worked in Egypt excavated settlements at time when others excavated tombs, interdisciplinary. Later worked in Zimbabwe. Historical particularism (cultural traits are independent, cultural traits present in any culture due to contact with donor culture) cultural relativism, ethonocentrism, culture history. Women in archaeology- H marie Wormington- paleoindian archaeology shift from things to concern with thinking from things. Functional cultural ecology Changes in the 1960s processual archaeology- lewis r binford, archaeology as anthropology, pushed for more theory more explicit and scientific archaeology, critiqued the profession. Today- several more diverse branches, Kathleen deagan Spanish colonial studies in florida, learned about early race relations in north America. Public aspects of archaeology and native americans. The Structure of Archaeological Inquiry The culture concept, archaeological record, scientific method (hypotheses testability, inductive reasoning specific to general, deductive reasoning theory to specific, bridging arguments) humanistic approach. Archaeological Theory: low level (data), Middle level (link observations with behavior), high level/general (answers large questions) Paradigms: cultural materialism: processual archaeology(binford), postmodernism: postprocessual archaeology (hodder), Processual-Plus (hegmon) Why Scientific Approach: science is empirical and objective concerned with the observable world, science is systematic and explicit, science is logical, science is explanatory and predictive, science is self critical and based on testing, science is public. Define a relevant problem, establish hypotheses, determine empirical implications of the hyportheses, collect data, compare data with expected implication, revise or retest hypotheses as necessary. Moundbuilder Myth- what is the moundbuilder myth? How did it get started? How can we examine it with scientific method? Who was cyrus thomas and what did he do about it? Are squire and davis’ data useless? Is there more we can learn about the mounds? Ancient monuments of the Mississippi valley was the first publication of the Smithsonian showed the government commitment to prehistoric heritage, first scientific effort to document and catalog earthen monuments of the US, work done before farming and urban development took its toll, problems with what they did and conclusions but fieldwork has been essential. Enduring