1. BASIC METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY HOW WE LEARN ABOUT THE PAST

2. 2 ARCHAEOLOGY: - In its broadest sense archaeology is the study of the human past, particularly as it is revealed through material remains; - A set of methods and procedures for investigating the past that reflect both the data that are available and the academic training and theoretical orientation of archaeologists.

3. 3 Archaeology and Anthropology: - In American universities, archaeology is a subdiscipline of Anthropology, a field that seeks to study humans in their various aspects: physical, cultural, social, linguistic, and historical; -Archaeology differs from most Anthropology in that it deals with dead people and with cultures in which individuals are seldom perceived; - it differs in that archaeologists study people’s works – their artifacts and places of activity – rather than the people themselves.

4. 4 - Though Archaeology can never hope to be all that Anthropology is, it can make important contributions to both Anthropology and History by adding a time dimension that cannot be studied with living people.

5. 5 Various Steps of the Archaeological Process: - preliminary research - problem-oriented; - surveying and mapping; aerial photographs; - digging: horizontal and vertical exposure; - recording: photographs; top plans; drawings; - removing the cleaning of objects; - the cataloging, preservation, and dating of artifacts with stratigraphy, Carbon 14; etc.; - project database; - laboratory work on the artifacts; comparisons; - publication of the findings.

6. 6 -The primary job of the archaeologist is not to provide us with beautiful relics, but to excavate, restore, and interpret pieces of the past; - A cycle of preliminary research, excavation, fact-finding, interpretation, and publication of findings to be shared with others.

7. 7 Archaeological Periods and Dates for the Near/Middle East: 4 Handout from Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (2001). 4 See also A. Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, “Contents”, pp. v-x. 4 The Conventional Chronology (see Textbook, p. 122) and Mazar’s “The Modified Conventional Chronology”, p. 122.