Buried Cities and Lost Tribes
January 17, 2017 Week 2
The Archaeological Record = Past Behavior x Formation Processes
-In an ideal world, the archaeological record would reflect the past perfectly
-There are a few archaeological records that do reflect the past perfectly, but not very many
-Formation Processes:
-1. transform material remnants from ethnographic (i.e. living) to Depositional processes
archaeological context. People discard material objects all day everyday (trash, lost items, etc.) that will one
day be covered in soil, and later found in the archaeological record.
-Because of the formation processes we can’t just take a site as it, we have to factor in human behavior etc.
-2. Cultural Disturbance processes change the materials within the archaeological record itself
-Some are people disturbing archaeological remains, but they can also be natural causes
-3. Natural Disturbance processes change the materials within the archaeological record itself
-Examples: Hyenas scavenging the leftover carcass from human hunting. Earth worms can destroy an
archaeological site from moving around every day in the soil and disrupting things.
-4. Preservation processes affect the survival of material remains in archaeological context
-Can be negative or positive, acid rain, volcano eruptions, etc.
-Formation processes transform the material remnants of past behavior. They can: modify objects, move
objects around, dissociate objects that were used together, create spurious association between unrelated
objects, and decrease/ increase quantities of objects.
Primary and Secondary Context
-Primary: Things that were left where they were used in the archaeological record
-Examples: A person carving a stone into something. That person will probably take the stone with
them, but they will leave behind the waste that came from making the spear. Bison were often caught and
butchered in the same area, they took the meat and fur, but left the bones.
-Secondary: A place where items are discarded, or taken somewhere from where they were used in the past
-Example: Landfills, discarded weapons, clothes, bathroom (latrine), etc.
Pompeii
-Fairly small Roman city
-20,000 people lived here
-Was constructed at the foot of Mt. Vesuvio (active volcano)
-Huge earthquake in 62 AD, during the following 17 years there is lots of small earthquakes
-Summer of 79 AD (August 24 ) the volcano erupts
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-Released 1 Cubic Mile of ash into the atmosphere, reaches an altitude of 18 miles, the ash will slowly fall
down and bury the city.
-The ash collapses the roofs of buildings, in some places it is 9 ft. deep
-Probably only killed a few hundred people, but what killed the city of Pompeii was a Pyroclastic surge (Aug.
25th) which is basically a hot avalanche that races down the mountain at 100 mph.
-After this, the surrounding area vacated as well. It was impossible to live there, or in any surrounding areas.
-Over centuries Pompeii is almost completely forgotten, the layer of ash hardens into basically a hard rock that
ended up protecting the archaeological record underneath.
-Much of the architecture have been preserved, as well as the organic matter (dead people) underneath.
-Good reflection of what was happening during the time of the eruption (2,000 years ago)
The Garbage Project
-William Rathje, University of Arizona
-A study of contemporary households using the archaeological method to excavate modern trash
-The economy of the modern household was explored through this
-They held interviews with the households, asking them questions and then comparing them to the garbage
they sifted through
-They learned about the socioeconomics of Tucson through the trash
Archaeological Data
-Artifact, Ecofact, Feature, Burial (special kind of feature) Site
1. Artifact
-Cultural (modified or manufactured by humans), moveable objects
2. Ecofact
-plant or animal remains found at an archaeological site
3. Features
-Non-portable object modified, in whole or in part, by human activity
-i.e. burials, villages, ritual sites, etc.
4. Burials
-features that contain human or animal remains, sometime associated with artifacts and ecofacts
5. Sites
-are places where artifacts, ecofacts, or features have been found
January 19 , 2017 Week 2
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Fieldwork
Surveying
-Record information at surface (mostly finding sites)
Excavation
-Record information from sub-surface
-Both are complementary to each other
How do we find archaeological sites? How do you know where to dig?
Can be—
-Organized and systematic
-Disorganized and impromptu
-Some sites are discovered by accident (Giant Deer, Lascaux, France, 17,000 years ago. —Cosquer Cave, France
17,000 years ago.)
-MOST sites are discovered by archaeologists through systematic means
Systematic Discovery
1. Documentary Sources (old maps, books, journals) (i.e. L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland Canada)
2. Ground Survey
-looking for sites just by walking around
-can be unsystematic, but depending on resources you want to do a systematic survey
3. Aerial Survey
-Airplanes, Satellites, etc.
-Rarely ever actually discovered by archaeologists, mostly people making maps, building satellites,
google earth, etc.
-LIDAR (laser and radar)
