ANTHROP 2PA3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Reading 4: Experimental Archaeology, Types Of Volcanic Eruptions, Taphonomy
4 Dec 2017
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Basic categories of archeological evidence: artifacts: portable objects used, modi ed, or made by humans, ecofacts: organic and environmental remains not made by humans. Includes human skeletons, animal bones, plant remains, soils and sediments: features: non-portable artifacts. Used in combination with artifacts can give clues of larger features and structures (ex. House vs. church: sites: places where artifacts, ecofacts, and features are found together. Places with signi cant traces of human activity. Movement from modern or ancient ecological processes (ex. transport by river: in both cases archeologists must approach the site from a secondary context. Formation processes: formation process: processes by which archeological evidence is buried and preserved; can be cultural or non-cultural (environmental) What people, past and present, have done to it. What natural conditions have done to preserve or destroy it: the study of formation processes is referred to as taphonomy, cultural formation processes are a direct result of human action, intentional or not.
