ARCL-1006EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Homo Erectus, Radiocarbon Dating, Dendrochronology
16 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ARCL 1006
Feb 26, 2018
Methods of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology
•Paleaoanthropologists
•study human evolution through examination of fossils
•search and excavate fossils at fossil localities
•All about fossils
•Archaeologists
•study human culture through material remains
•search for archaeological sites and artifacts
•all about human culture (including direct ancestors [homo erectus] through material
remains)
•Both work together to understand pre-hominids and their tech, diet, etc all that of our human
ancestors
•What is a Fossil?
•any kind of once living organism that has been preserved through mineralization
•the organic part of the organism has been replaced by minerals which makes that fossil
last a long time
•only a very small part of the vast number of deceased organisms are preserved, due to the
special conditions required
•includes animals, plants
•Palaeo. are also concerned about other kinds of fossils because of climate changes, and
environment changes, and to try to understand why particular evolutions occurred
•What is an artifact?
•object that is made of, or modified by humans
•don’t have to be old
•What is an ecofact?
•Natural object (plants or animal) that has made it’s way into an archaeological site by
human activity
•pets are an example (buried animals)
•rats dying in walls are ecofacts, due to the house being there
•gardens produce ecofacts, due to the non-natural distribution of plants
•
•What types of artifacts are commonly found on archaeological sites? Why?
•major artifact class: lithic (chipped // groundstone)
•two reasons: it’s a stone- does not break down easily. // thought to be the first object
that humans are modifying (however, chimps were using wood to break things open)
•Ceramic (clay through fire transformed into stone)
•Other major classes: metals and glass.
•does not preserve as well, due to decomposition and stuff
•Bone- ecofact or artifact (bone weapons)
•Conditions of excellent st
•extremely dry
•Example: pair of sandals from Egypt- good preservation due to the hot/dry condition
•Extremely cold
•whole man frozen solid was found in the Alps- able to tell what his last meal was due
to the good preservation
•peat bogs (
•the tannin in the peat preserves people and the clothing
•Context
•“Artifacts lose their importance when you take away their context”
•a very important concept for archaeology
•Region
•what part of the world is this object found in?
•ex) if a rock is native to one region, but is found in another, it raises questions of how
that happens
•site
•can be massive cities, to somewhere that you littered
•can be habitation areas, graveyards, places where raw materials of procured
•an extremely broad term
•within site
•Important to note where in the site
•on the side, in the middle, etc
•Stratum (layer)
•Where its found in a specific layer (stratum)
