ANT101H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Nuclear Weapon, Radiocarbon Dating, Toxicodendron Radicans
ANT101
21 January 2019
Lecture 5
Archaeology
Methods for Studying Material Culture
Archaeology
The study of material remains in order to describe and explain human behavior
➢ Material remains are anything that exhibit human activity
➢ These remains are a symbol of our culture and a representation of our behavior
3 types of material remains
▪ Environmental
▪ Remains of human activity
▪ Human remains themselves
Archaeological Analysis
1. you must recognize things as items used by humans; items that functioned within a cultural
system
2. you must interpret how the items were used or how they functioned in a cultural system
3. you must integrate each symbol in its proper system and environment
Artifact
Any object modified by human beings
▪ Express a facet of human culture
❖ Could be man-made or natural
▪ Context is important (more than the artifact itself)
▪ Primary or secondary
❖ Context: relationship of the artifact to the environment and to each other
➢ When taken out of its original position, an artifact loses its context (like in a
museum)
➢ Primary Context: artifact present at the place where it was found
➢ Secondary Context: when an artifact is moved from its original deposition
TYPOLOGY (Type)
a categorization of artifacts to answer specific questions about a culture (in order to ask about its
function)
ECOFACT
Items that become associated with a site through natural processes (give environmental
information)
FEATURE
➢ Artifacts that cannot be moved from its original site
➢ Eg: a body could be removed from a burial site but the dirt cannot be taken as it is a feature of
the site (or else the patter is lost)
Things that cannot be taken back to a lab for analysis
Document Summary
The study of material remains in order to describe and explain human behavior. Material remains are anything that exhibit human activity. These remains are a symbol of our culture and a representation of our behavior. 3 types of material remains: environmental, remains of human activity, human remains themselves. Any object modified by human beings: express a facet of human culture. Could be man-made or natural: context is important (more than the artifact itself, primary or secondary. Context: relationship of the artifact to the environment and to each other. When taken out of its original position, an artifact loses its context (like in a museum) Primary context: artifact present at the place where it was found. Secondary context: when an artifact is moved from its original deposition. Typology (type) a categorization of artifacts to answer specific questions about a culture (in order to ask about its function) Items that become associated with a site through natural processes (give environmental information)
