Human EvolutionHuman Evolutionandand PREHISTORYPREHISTORY

Link to the Canadian Archaeological Association

Chapter Two:Chapter Two:

METHODS OF STUDYINGMETHODS OF STUDYINGTHE HUMAN PASTTHE HUMAN PAST

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What Are Archaeological Sites And Fossil Localities, What Are Archaeological Sites And Fossil Localities, And How Are They Found?And How Are They Found?

How Are Sites And Localities Investigated?How Are Sites And Localities Investigated?

How Are Archaeological Or Fossil Remains Dated?How Are Archaeological Or Fossil Remains Dated?

Forensic Anthropology in Nova Scotia

Aim Of ArchaeologyAim Of Archaeology

To use archaeological remains to To use archaeological remains to

reconstruct human societies that can no reconstruct human societies that can no

longer be observed firsthand, in order to longer be observed firsthand, in order to

understand and explain human understand and explain human

behaviourbehaviour

Methods of Data RecoveryMethods of Data Recovery

Artifacts any object fashioned or altered by humans,

e.g. pipe, stone tool, house walls

Context of artifacts the way that artifacts were left in the ground

The Nature of FossilsThe Nature of Fossils

Fossil

the remains of a once-living organism, generally having lived more than 10,000 years ago, e.g. bones

FossilizationFossilization

Typically involve the hard parts of an organism:

BonesTeethShellsHornsWoody tissues of plants

FossilsFossils

AlteredRemains of plants and animals that have been altered, as by the replacement of organic material by calcium carbonate or silica

Unaltered

Remains of plants and animals that lived in the past and that have not been altered in any significant way

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITESARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

A site is a place containing the remains of previous human activity

A feature is a discrete place within a site, e.g. fire hearth, storage pit

Archaeological site…early stages of excavation

Some Types of Archaeology

Paleoanthropological

Historical

Some Types of Archaeology

Underwater

Industrial

Sites…What are they?

Places where past human activity occurred

Some common site types:

Habitation―places where people lived

Procurement―places where people acquired resources

Processing―places where people converted resources to products

Sacred―places where people practiced activities related to their ideology

Specialized―places with unique purposes

Sites are defined by what is found in them.

Habitation Sites

Procurement Sites

Processing

Sacred

Specialized

Matrix, Provenience, and Association…

• Matrix- refers to the physical medium that surrounds, holds, and supports archaeological data. Most frequently it consists of soil, sand, gravel, or rock. The matrix provides important clues to understanding the artifacts, features or ecofacts it contains.

Provenience…

• Provenience – refers to the three dimensional location of any kind of archaeological data within a matrix. Horizontal provenience is usually recorded relative to a geographical grid system using known reference points. Vertical provenience is usually recorded as elevation above or below sea-level. Provenience information allows the archaeologist to record (and later to reconstruct) association and context

Association…

• Association - refers to two or more artifacts occurring in the same matrix. The associations of various kinds of data are crucial to the interpretation of past events. For example, the artifacts found in association with a human burial, such as hunting weapons, may be clues to the individual’s gender, status, and livelihood.

Context…

• Context is an evaluation of archaeological data based on both behavioural and transformational processes. By considering the significance of provenience, association, and matrix for artifacts, the archaeologist identifies the processes that have acted on those items and then reconstructs the original behaviour they represent.

Two kinds of context…

• 1. Primary context – is the original context of the find, undisturbed by any factor, human or natural, since it was deposited by the people involved with it.

• 2. Secondary context – Refers to the context of a find whose primary context has been disturbed by later activity. Very frequently, excavators of a burial ground will find incomplete skeletons whose graves were distrubed by deposition of later buri

FOSSIL LOCALITIESFOSSIL LOCALITIES

In palaeoanthropology, a fossil locality is a place where fossils are found, e.g. rock fissures in South Africa where human ancestor remains were dropped by predators

Site IdentificationSite Identification

Presence of artifacts (most sites)ChanceSurvey, ground or aerial, with test pitsInterviewing local inhabitantsRemote sensing techniques, e.g. magnetometer, ultrasound

Partly determined by the reasons for the search, e.g. CRM work and laws requiring archaeological assessments of construction projects

Site IdentificationSite Identification

Soil marks, geological formationsKind of vegetation growing at the siteDocuments, maps, folkloreNatural agents, e.g. soil erosionBy accident during another human

activity, e.g. widening of Trans-Canada Highway

Soil marks…• This is a Gallo-Roman villa rustica, that was discovered by aerial

survey in 1979. It is located in an area where Gallo-Roman era pottery were located in field surveys conducted in 1977, but the nature and extent of the site was not evident from the ground.

Locality IdentificationLocality Identification

Palaeoanthropologists must identify geological context with conditions right for fossilization

Specific localities with these contexts are then identified in much the same way as archaeological sites

Archaeological ExcavationArchaeological Excavation

Grid systemA system for recording data from an

archaeological excavation, where the site surface is divided into squares

Datum pointThe starting, or reference, point for

constructing a grid

Separate excavation of each square in the grid

Use of shovels, trowels and sifting screens

Familiarity with natural soil around site

Excavation of stratified sites, layer by layer (or use of arbitrary levels)

Flotation for very fine objects

Archaeological ExcavationArchaeological Excavation

Fossil ExcavationFossil Excavation

Use of geological techniques, e.g. knowledge of rock sequence in which fossils lie

Tools to remove fossils from rock beds, e.g. pickaxes, dental picks

Methods in Forensic AnthropologyMethods in Forensic Anthropology

1. Recovery – survey, excavation, photograph/draw remains in situ, transport to laboratory

2. Analysis – inventory, ask questions:

Are the remains bone?

Are the remains human?

Are the remains contemporary (less than 50 yrs.)

Determine sex, age, using qualitative and quantitative techniques

State of Preservation of Archaeological State of Preservation of Archaeological EvidenceEvidence

Inorganic materials (e.g. stone) are more resistant to decay than organic (e.g. bone)

State of preservation is affected by:

Climate, i.e. temperature and humidity

Cultural practices, e.g. mummification

SORTING OUT THE SORTING OUT THE EVIDENCE: EXCAVATIONEVIDENCE: EXCAVATION

Excavation is destruction and the excavation record is all that remains.

Scale mapStratification of each grid squareDescription of artifacts and bonesPhotographsScale drawings

SORTING OUT THE SORTING OUT THE EVIDENCE: LABORATORYEVIDENCE: LABORATORY

Fossils:

Removal from the matrix with specialized tools and possible use of chemicals

Microscopic examination

Preparation of an endocast, a cast of the inside of a skull

SORTING OUT THE SORTING OUT THE EVIDENCE: LABORATORYEVIDENCE: LABORATORY

Artifacts:

Clean and catalogue artifacts

Examination of manufacture and wear patterns for evidence of function

Analysis of plant and animal remains (palaeoethnobotany and archaeozoology) for clues about environment and human economic activities

SORTING OUT THE SORTING OUT THE EVIDENCE: LABORATORYEVIDENCE: LABORATORY

Analysis of human skeletal material – human osteology

A degree in Human Osteology...

Information about people’s diets and health status, including life expectancy and mortality

e.g. palaeopathology -- The study of disease in ancient populations,

usually from evidence in bone

Public ArchaeologyPublic Archaeology

Any archaeological activity that interacts or has potential to interact with the public, e.g. ownership and trade in artifacts and human remains, leading to repatriation legislation (U.S.) and protocol (Canada)

Goals of Public ArchaeologyGoals of Public Archaeology

• To build relationships based on mutual trust• To distribute archaeological knowledge• Local heritage awareness• Participatory programs for First Nations

people• Support of museums• Cultural tourism

Dating The PastDating The Past

Relative DatingDesignating an event, object, or fossil as being older or younger than another

Absolute (Chronometric) DatingDates based on solar years, centuries, or other units of absolute time

Methods of Relative DatingMethods of Relative Dating

1. Stratigraphy

2. Seriation (most reliable)

3. Fluorine test

4. Palynology

5. Faunal analysis

Methods of Chronometric DatingMethods of Chronometric Dating

1. Radiocarbon analysis

2. Dendrochronology3. Potassium-argon

analysis4. Amino acid

racemization5. Electron spin

resonance

• The Human Spark...Episode 1; part 1

• Forensic anthropology

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