Think Like An Archaeologist Unit 5: Think Like An Archaeologist

What is an Archaeologist? Scientist Collect evidence to learn about people of the past Integral to the study of geography INDIANA JONES does not accurately represent the life of an archaeologist … Goal of this presentation: introduce students to thinking like an archaeologist by having them analyze and interpret artifacts from different time periods to simulate how archaeologists learn about people of the past. Tell students: Archaeologists are scientists. No fixed set of steps that all scientists follow. Their scientific investigations usually involve 1.) collection of relevant evidence, 2.) use of logical reasoning, 3.) application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to help put together the evidence collected

What is an artifact? Anything that has been altered by humans Projectile points, ceramics, metals, etc. Tell archaeologists about the people who made and used them Look at context … where artifacts are found Look at association … connection to other nearby archaeological remains Is this artifact prehistoric or historic? What is the difference? artifacts… anything that has been altered by humans, including objects like projectile points, ceramics, metal, etc. Artifacts are not the end product, but are important for what they can tell us about the people who made and used them. Finally, review the principles of context and association. Archaeologists use context (where artifacts are found) and association (the connection to other archaeological remains found with the artifacts) to begin to reconstruct past lifeways. Artifacts lacking information about their context and association are limited clues for archaeologists. While we can learn a lot about an artifact by itself, archaeologists are more interested in what the patterning between the location and the kinds of artifacts found can tell us about how different people lived in the past. This information is unrecoverable without the necessary record keeping to record information about context and association. Prehistoric and Historic. Prehistoric refers to the period prior to written records for any given area, whereas historic refers to the period of human history that begins with the appearance of written records and continues to the present day. Prehistoric peoples did, however, have a history, it was just not written. Remind students that the historic period did not begin everywhere in the world, or in the Americas, at the same time. ARTIFACT ON SCREEN: Romanian artifact from the Neolithic period of 5500 BCE.

Investigating an Artifact So we can try to determine what artifacts are by figuring out what their possible uses might have been. Students – what do you think some possible uses of these artifacts might have been? Why? <instructor: have students respond in the chat window> Possible Uses of the artifacts: - to cut something? - to heat something? - Other thoughts? Answers: This first photo is an artifact from the British Museum – TAXILA COIN … Second artifact – Roman Hoe … These are artifacts on display at the British Museum. What do you think they are?

Ask yourself a few questions… What about this artifact? Who might have used the artifact? Men? Women? Children? Hunters? Gatherers? Farmers? Others? Instructor – ask students to respond to questions in chat window. Answer: Piece of an Ancient Roman hydraulic pump, made of bronze in the 1st or 2nd century CE and found at the Sotiel-Coronada mine, in Calañas (Province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain).

Then What? How would you know that what you thought about the artifact was correct? Archaeologists look at art, architecture, weapons … anything that impacts people and culture or gives clues about people, their culture, physical systems and processes, and their impact on the area. A Latin inscription set up by the road leading into Monteleone Sabino (RI), Italy from ancient Trebula Mutuesca. The text is CIL IX, 4894, but the last 3 lines are now apparently buried. "To Aurelia Crescentia, most honorable and chaste woman, patroness, wife of the equestrian Aurelius Felicissimus Proximus, patron of the municipium of Trebula Mutuesca, on account of her merit and frequent devoting of herself to beneficence, the same tricliniares (a dining room) decreed that a statue be erected, dedicated on her birthday, 17 days before the Kalends of February (January 29), when Arrianus and Papus were consuls (AD 243). The place given by decree of the decurions."

Summary … Archaeologists Do not … Do … Dig up dinosaurs Hunt for treasures Excavate graves Work in teams with other archaeologists Study past cultures through artifacts Investigate sites Save cultural resources from destruction Work to protect and preserve fragile clues of the past to help us understand our connection with the past Some common misconceptions are that archaeologists are treasure hunters who sell or donate artifacts to museums, that they prefer to excavate graves, and that they dig up dinosaurs. Archaeology is the scientific study of cultures, based on their material remains; humans affect and are affected by cultural resources; and stewardship of archaeological resources saves the past for the future. Real-world problem … of looting sites and selling artifacts. Collecting, buying, and selling illegally obtained artifacts is a big problem. When an artifact is removed from its original location [context] without recording its precise location, it loses much of the valuable information it can tell us about the past. Imagine finding the last remaining copy of an old mystery, but discovering that the final chapter has been torn out. You will never know how the story ends. Because artifacts are irreplaceable, it is illegal to collect them on public lands. Students should be aware that archaeological sites in the United States are protected by a variety of federal, state, and local laws and that archaeologists have an ethical obligation to work to protect sites.