ANT101H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Relative Dating, Fluorine, Paleomagnetism
Document Summary
Two approaches taken by archaeologists: ethno archaeology observe & study traditional cultures to resolve archaeological problems, experimental make or use artifacts to determine their manufacture and function in the past. Ethical issues in archaeology: conservation preserving artifact. Archaeological sites: the antiquities trade , indigenous peoples, gender. Relative dating (6) involves ordering artifacts into sequences relative to each other ( ex: this came before this no specific dates: stratigraphy the study of stratification. Artifacts are deposited into layers strata. Law of superposition: one layer lies on top of the other, so that the later at the bottom is the oldest (ie: deposited first: typological sequencing (cross dating) Relative dates are assigned to an artifact if it matches other artifacts already recognized within a well established typological system: seriation. Bones in the ground absorbs fluorine & uranium from the ground water. Therefore, older bones have more fluorine & uranium (higher concentration) Nitrogen reversed (less for older bones)
