Reading for today:
Ashmore and Sharer, Chapter 6, "Analyzing the Past," pp. 125-156.
Analyzing the Past: Artifacts, Ecofacts, and Features
We talked about Lithic Analysis today and in the video you saw an example of flintknapping. There are LOTS of vids on flintknapping on YouTube (See http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=flintknapping&search_type=&search=Search) and this is just one example...watch at least a bit of several listed on YouTube...including a 10-year-old flintknapper!
Remember! Next class (Thursday, Feb. 14) your first paper is due!
Today in class, we watched the videotape "People of the Hearth" about the PaleoIndian occupation of Barton Gulch in southwest Montana, about 9,400 years ago. It was very well done, with re-enacted scenes of daily life, and portrayed a processualist approach to archaeology. There were many specialized analyses in the video, including faunal analysis (ex: the deer bones at the site), floral analysis (ex: the use of goosefoot and prickly pear seeds for food), and lithic analysis (ex: the presence of obsidian). There were also several examples of experimental archaeology, including atlatl use, flintknapping, and cooking using ancient technigues such as sandwiching meat packets between layers of dampened bulrushes (Scirpus). Then we proceeded to the lecture; the outline is given below (just highlighted terms are given here; be sure and read the text!).
ARTIFACTS
Industries
Lithics:Chipped/Flaked Stone and Ground-stone
Lithics are the most common prehistoric artifacts in Montana
Chipped Stone:
Types of stone that fracture in a regular way: flint or chert, CCR, obsidian, basalt, quartz/quartzite
Variety of techniques
Core
Bulb of Percussion
Uniface
Biface
Flake
Blades
Lithic scatter
Debitage
Direct percussion
Indirect percussion
Pressure flaking
Retouching (retouched flakes)
Striking platform
Kinds of tools:
=Drills, gravers, points, blades, microblades, knives, spokeshaves, scrapers, shavers
Ground-stone
=Mano and Metate/grinding slab/quern
=Mortar and pestle
==>See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithic_analysis ; http://archnet.asu.edu/topical/Selected_Topics/Lithics.php
Ceramics
Ceramics: pottery, figurines, musical instruments, spindle whorls
(ceramics is additive technology vs lithics is subtractive)
Pottery
Potsherd (sometimes spelled shard)
Plasticity
Clay, temper, kneading/wedging
Pinching, Coiling, slabs, molds, wheel
Slip, glaze
Firing: up to three stages: dehydration, oxidation, vitrification
Analysis: by attribute (stylistic, form, technological); residues; provenience
Analyses: Form, wear use, residue
Montana Ceramics: Not much, only Intermountain Ware and the kind up in NE Montana
-->See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery
Metallurgy
Extracts metals from ores
Cold hammering copper
Annealing
Smelting
Alloys
Copper - bronze -iron (+ carbon = steel)
==>See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallurgy
Organic Artifacts
Problem with preservation
Wood, plant fibers (textiles, basketry, etc.), bone, antler, ivory, shell
Analysis: form, biotic resources
ECOFACTS
Classification different than artifacts; based on appropriate connection to zoology, botany, geology
Floral
1. Microspecimens: pollen, phytoliths
2. Macrospecimens: seeds, leaves, casts/impressions
Faunal
MNI= minimum number of individuals
Human Remains: biological / physical anthropology
Ethical issues
Diets
DNA
Mummification/bogs
Paleopathology
coprolites
==>See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_archaeology; ETHICS: http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/site/about_ethi.php
Geological
Soils and Sediments
=Geoarchaeology purposes (4):
1. Establish stratigraphy of site
2. Date the site
3. Understand natural site formation processes
4. Reconstruct the ancient landscape
-geomorphology
==>See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoarchaeology
FEATURES
Again, formal, and technological analyses (stylistic not as common as location)
--location and arrangement show distribution and organization of human activities
1. Constructed features- Built to provide space for an activity or set of activities (ex: windbreak, house, grave)
2. Cumulative features- Formed by accretion rather than a preplanned or designed construction of an activity area or facility (ex: midden, quarry, workshop area)
-conjoining studies
==>See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feature_(archaeology)
Sites mentioned in this chapter:
Stonehenge (England)
Chalcuapa (El Salvador)
Gordion (Turkey)
Shang Dynasty bronze vessels (China)
La Tene (Munsingen, Switzerland)
Hohokam (Arizona)
Olsen-Chubbuck (Colorado)
Upper Mantaro River Valley (Peru)
Star Carr (England)
Makapansgat (South Africa)
Tehuacan (Mexico)
North Acropolis, Tikal (Guatemala)
Lake Titicaca (Bolivia)
Acrotiri, Thera/Santorini (Aegean Sea, Greece)
Pompeii (Italy)
Ilopango volcano area (El Salvador)
Quirigua, Motagua River (Guatemala)
Scara Brae (Orkney Islands, Scotland)
Pyramids (Egypt)
Moche Valley (Peru)
Sweet Track, Somerset Levels (England)
Mono tribal sites (Sierra Nevada, California)
Bighorn Medicine Wheel (Wyoming)
Meer II (Belgium)
Next Class Readings for Thursday:
Ashmore and Sharer, Chapter 7: "Dating the Past," pp. 157-178
AGAIN, REMEMBER YOUR PAPER IS DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF THURSDAY'S CLASS
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