U69 Anthro 190 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Historical Archaeology, Pseudoarchaeology, Adam Kadmon
Document Summary
What archaeology is not: not paleontology, pseudoarchaeology: Real or imagined archaeological evidence to justify non- scientific accounts of the past. Use of archaeology for political/ideological purposes that justify oppression or mistreatment of others in the name of science: not history. History: study of the past through written records and images. Archaeology is multidisciplinary: material remains are versatile (in time, space and material, research questions and interests influence why and how we study remains, archaeological theory + archaeological methods. 4 underlying principles: form: infer what kind of vessel it came from, function: infer its former use, process: how does this object/use change across space horizontally and across time vertically, meaning, synchronic and diachronic. Archaeology in news: palmyra (syria): roman trade center 1st century ad, destruction of roman theatre and semitic temples. Example of historical archaeology: sake at japanese internment camps, used in ww2. Used to formalize social events and in religious ceremonies. Def of archaeology: what archae is not.