Goals of Archaeology Describe cultural history Reconstruct past life ways Explain culture process Conserve and interpret the past Types of Archaeology Paleoanthropology combines archaeology and physical anthropology to study biological behavioral remains of early hominins Prehistoric the tiem before the appearance of written record Egyptology dealing with Egypt Biblical studying remains of culture from the periods and descriptions in the Classical study of the great Mediterranean civilizations Ancient Greece and Bible Rome Industrial study of material evidence associated with the industrial past Historical dealing with times where written record could support findings Underwater study of artifacts and time periods under water Maritime study of human interaction with the sea Geological Time Geologist deal with the entire history of the earth by distinguishing a series of era representing major episodes Precambrian was the first major era origin to 600 mya Succeeded by Paleozoic era witnessed the appearance of the first vertebrate Then Mesozoic era the age of Dinosaurs Currently in the Cenozoic Era which began 65 mya with expansion of modern species mammals and plants Cenozoic divided in 7 epochs last four are relevant to the evolution of humans Miocene 25 5 5 mya Pliocene 5 5 mya Pleistocene 2 mya Holocene 11 kya Culture Human adaptation based on experience learning and the use of tools Biological Evolution Changes in species due to biological factors in the environment the study of the biological nature of our nearest o Growing more hair climate is steadily getting colder over time modify and enhance behavior without a corresponding change Cultural Evolution in genetic makeup of an organism relatives and ourselves Biological Anthropology living and fossil humans Cultural Anthropology human experience o Study bones blood genetics growth demography and other aspect of the study of living peoples and the shared aspects of the o Study living people and focus on the shared aspect of the human experience describing both the differences and common characteristics that exist Culture Terms o Culture History Process o Archaeological culture o Culture area o Cultural Heritage o Material Culture o Popular Culture Archaeological Sites Artifacts objects and materials that people in the past made and used Sites accumulations of such artifacts representing the places where people lived Fieldwork required for the information gathered for archaeological studies that or carried out activities intends to locate artifacts and sites Surveys undertaken to discover artifacts on the ground Excavations are primary discovery techniques of professional field archaeology exposing in ground artifacts Archaeological Record The information about the past that has survived to the present o Includes both past materials and context Context involves the matrix provenience and association and relationships between objects that are in the same place Items found in the same pit layer or sediment are related in terms of time and activity context in terms of physical setting location and association of artifacts and features Primary Context an object in its original position in situ Secondary objects that have been moved Shell Midden mound of shells from mussels oysters or other species Matrix The physical material often dirt in which archaeological objects are Provenience provenance The three dimensional context including geographical location of an archaeological find giving information about its function and date The origin or history of ownership of an archaeological or historical object Association Objects found near one another in the same context are said to be in Analysis of Archaeological Materials Archaeological fieldwork produces several major categories of finds and located association information o Artifacts portable objects altered by human activity E g Lithics stone bone and shell ceramics metals glass textiles o Ecofacts remains of plants animals sediments and other unmodified materials that result from human activity Relevant to study esp of environment and ecology E g seeds bone shell pollen wood soils minerals o Features immovable structures layers pits and posts in the ground o Structure usually preserved establishments part of a find known to house artifacts E g underground tombs o Sites and Settlements set of artifacts ecofacts and features that defines places in the landscape where activity and residence were focused Pompeii Pyramids of Giza Tombs religious sites burial sites special activity sites industrial sites underwater sites Context the position of an archaeological find in time and space established by measuring its association matrix and provenience Associated Terms stratum a stratigraphy stratified stratigraphic stratigraphic profile section level deposit disturbance disturbed undisturbed instrusion intrusive primary secondary context in situ Principle of Association An object is contemporary with the other objects found in the same undisturbed archeological deposit or layer Principle of Superposition In any undisturbed sequence of layers the bottom layer is oldest and each successive layer above it is more recent Humans are members of the family Hominoidae The first primates existed about 65 mya at the beginning of the Cenozoic The earliest hominoidea appeared 25 mya About 12 mya a new group of animals the dryopithecines emerged which had probable ancestors of living apes and humans About 10 mya one of the African primates took the path toward humanness Fossil evidence suggest that humans are direct relatives of the chimpanzee diverging from the lineage about 6 5 mya The Idea of Prehistory Non linear perceptions of the past o View of time moving in cycles preordained in content and duration a Wheel of Time repeating ages that happen to all beings between birth and extinction examples in Inca Maya Hopi Babylonian Greek cultures Hinduism Buddhism etc o 1 bill Novus ordo seclorum Latin for New Order of the Ages Buddhist views of Death and Rebirth Linear perceptions of time o Judeo Christian Biblical timeline from Creation to the end of the world Linear sequence based on scientific principles of chronology history Human history conceived of as a time line with an implied notion of ascent improvement progress Idea of progress through time Both optimistic and pessimistic approaches o Progress positivism things get better through time improvements through technology science knowledge Idea of