CLASSICS 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Ground-Penetrating Radar, Classical Archaeology, Aerial Photography
4 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The study of past culture through the materials they produce and leave behind. The goal of archaeology is to reconstruct the past of different cultures. Prehistoric archaeologists have no written sources to use. Historic archaeologists have many written sources to use. Archaeology is divided by culture and period. Classical archaeology reconstructs societies that flourished in the central and western mediterranean. Not text-based, although texts can be useful. Material culture is obtained through excavation (digging, recording, interpreting) By nature, archaeology is a destructive process. Excavation destroys the layers of deposited material as it goes further down. Where archaeologists dig can be influenced by many factors including but not limited to. Material is deposited gradually over a site. In order to understand accurately what happened excavation must proceed slowly and carefully. Appropriate format of collected data and recordings. Fixed objects that are difficult to move from the excavation site. Buildings, walls, wells, drains, kilns, shrines, hearths, statues and monuments etc.
