Archaeology Unit
Brainstorm: What is Archaeology? What does an Archaeologist do? Day 1 Archaeology Notes Brainstorm: What is Archaeology? What does an Archaeologist do?
Day 1 notes Archaeology: is the study of the remains of human life long ago. 2 kinds of Archaeology: Prehistoric: Archaeology that deals with life before there was written language. Historic: Deals with life after there was written language. Antiquity: Object of ancient times.
Day 1 cont. Classification of Antiquities: depending on what they were made of: Stone, Bronze, Iron. Stone Age: Can be divided into 2 periods: Paleolithic: Chipping away stone to make the shape of tools (flake stone tools) Neolithic: Polished smooth stone. Bronze Age Iron Age
Archaeology Locating the Site
Survey Team Ground Survey: no digging; check at the ground level for remains. Take plant samples Geophysical Survey: check for artifacts with electrical resistively and magnetometry. Send currents into the ground When currents changes, an object has been located and they know where to dig.
Survey Team Cont. Aerial Photography: Helicopter and airplane photos – look for patterns in the land and vegetation called crop marks.
Environmental Team Study present environmental conditions. (plants, soil, water) Recreate the environment of the past and also study animal remains.
Site Excavation After survey team has checked the area for possible artifacts, the Site Excavation Team comes in.
Excavation Excavation: Site Excavation Team: To uncover by digging To scoop up Site Excavation Team: Surface Work Probe or Poking Sift Record and catalog finding on a grid
Site Grid 1 2 3 4 5 A B C D
What did they find? Pottery was often found: It holds it’s shape It was cheap It was used a lot
What do artifacts tell us about the people who used them?
Dating Methods of Artifacts Essential Question: How do Archaeologist figure out the age of an artifact?
What do we already know? You already know that archaeologists can determine the age of an artifact by the material that it was made of. There are also four other dating methods that archaeologists use to find out the age of an artifact.
Radio-Carbon Dating Radio-Carbon dating determines the age of ancient objects and human/animal remains by measuring the amount of carbon 14 there is left in an object. A man named Willard F Libby was the first to use this method during the 1950’s. He later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work.
Radio-Carbon Dating Cont. Carbon-14 is a radioactive element and it is the radioactivity, which is used to measure age. By counting how many carbon-14 atoms there are in an object, we can figure out how old the object is or how long ago it died.
Thermo luminescence Thermo luminescence is the process in which a mineral lets off light while being heated at temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius.
Thermo luminescence The brightness or the intensity of the luminescence that the object lets off can be used to determine how much time has passed since the last time the object was heated. The object is heated in a dark room. This dating method is used to test pottery, brick, fire pits, hearths, kilns, flint, rocks, and minerals. It dates items between the years 300-10,000 BC
Obsidian Hydration Analysis Obsidian is a rock that has cooled quickly after a volcanic eruption. Because it cools so quickly, it forms little or no crystal parts and flakes easily. Obsidian rock was used to make stone tools. Obsidian rock absorbs water and it is the amount of water that determines the age of an object made from obsidian rock
Dendrochronology Tree ring Dating – count the rings Trees grow one ring per calendar year Each ring is a year by year record that reflects the climate conditions Archaeologists can even determine the age of wood used by an ancient builder in a structure that has been discovered.
Tree Ring Stations Station 1: Station 2: Station 3: Station4: