ANTH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Mary Leakey, Geoarchaeology, Laetoli
Document Summary
Lecture 6 chapter 5: geoarchaeology and site formation processes. Applies the concepts and methods of the geo(logical)sciences to archaeological. To place sites and artifacts in a context through the application of stratigraphic principles and dating techniques. To understand the natural (not human induced) processes of site formation. In any pile of sedimentary rocks undisturbed by folding or overturning, the strata on the bottom were deposited first, those above them were deposited second, those above them third, and so on. This principle seems simple, but it was a critical observation in the 17th century when formulated by nicolaus steno. Fossil footprints at laetoli: law of superposition in action. For decades, specialists in human evolution argued that bipedalism must have arisen in response to (after) tool use. Based on her knowledge of the region"s geology, mary leakey believed the footprints" age to be more than a million years older than the oldest known tool use.
