ANTHROP 2PA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Bioturbation, Remote Sensing, Aerial Reconnaissance
26 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
N-transforms: natural, differential preservation: durability of material. Hard, non-organic = most durable (stone, ceramics, phytoliths) Organic or transformed bone = medium durable (bone, carbonized plants) Soft, organic, untransformed = least durable (textiles, basketry, uncarbonized plants: natural disturbances: rodents, earthworms, animals, bugs, bioturbation, erotion, catastrophic events, patterns we recover are not always a direct reflection of past human behaviour!! Unusual preservation: peat: living and partially decomposed organic matter. Example: tollund man, naturally mummified corpse: volcanic catastrophes. Example: joya de ceren, pompeii, ash preservation: freezing and arid conditions. C-transforms: cultural, discard (casual/formal, intentional burial (retrieved or left, intentional destruction, reclamation & reuse, disturbance. Many cases: open air sites: hot/cold, wet/dry, acidic soils, which help dissolve inorganic materials like minerals in bone. Importance of archaeological context: primary vs secondary: undisturbed vs disturbed, matrix: soil around artifacts/features. Physical features, pits, burials, house structures, post-molds: sites. Large sites: dense concentrations of artifacts, architecture.
