Introduction to Archaeology.txt
Introduction to Archaeology
(24 lectures, 45 minutes/lecture)
Course No. 193
Taught by Susan Foster McCarter
Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D., Brandeis University
Have you ever found yourself, perhaps after visiting a museum, an art gallery, or a historic site, wanting to know more about a long-lost civilization, a fortress that was bitterly fought over ages ago, or a ruined city sitting mute but poignant in the midst of what was once a thriving human world but is now a trackless jungle or a lonely plain?
If such experiences have gripped your imagination, then you have probably also wondered how, more generally, groups of human beings dealt at different times and places with the challenges of their environments, and how, in turn, the environment shaped past peoples across the unchronicled millennia of human prehistory.
"Windows Into the Past"
Your guide to the study of archaeology is Dr. Susan Foster McCarter (Ph.D., Brandeis University), an affiliate of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She also lectures for the Smithsonian Institution's Resident Associates Program.
With decades of teaching and field experience as well as a special scholarly interest in prehistoric Aegean sites on Cyprus and Crete, Dr. McCarter shares with you her expertise and her love for finding "windows into the past."
"The goals of the course are to explain key archaeological concepts and practices, and to illustrate how archaeologists reconstruct the past, especially the prehistoric past (before the invention of writing)," says Dr. McCarter. "Archaeology is a science, and archaeologists are trained in many subdisciplines. They reach their conclusions by careful research. This is not true of pseudoarchaeologists, who use selected archaeological information to support preconceived ideas about the past."
The first scientific excavation occurred in 1784 when Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 17 years before he became president, excavated native burial mounds according to the Law of Superposition (the earliest remains are those which were laid down first, and the latest remains are those which were laid down last). He recorded everything he found and published his data. Essentially, Jefferson conducted a modern scientific excavation.
Scientific Archaeology has three goals:
to describe and classify what is found
to figure out the function of what is found
to explain how and why ancient cultures changed over time.
Discover the Archaeological Process
Along with history and basic concepts, much of the course's first half, "The Archaeological Process," introduces you to the ways in which archaeologists find, excavate, preserve, and date valuable sites (using everything from tree rings and changing pottery styles to atomic technology) and the assemblages of artifacts associated with them. You learn about such topics as:
why archaeological surveys must cover the same ground at several different times of day
how archaeologists learn volumes from discards and garbage
why ceramic artifacts are so important to the study of the past
how the presence of glaciers assists archaeological research in Scandinavia.
Some sites, such as the pyramids in Egypt, have always been known. But most sites are far less conspicuous. The method used by archaeologists to find over 70 percent of sites is called archaeological reconnaissance, or site survey.
Survey begins with gathering published information about the area to be studied. Archaeologists then go to the area and walk over it, recording what they find. Surveys can be enhanced by the use of aerial photography and various scientific sensing methods. An archaeologist uses the information gathered through the survey to decide whether to excavate, and if so, where.
In addition to surveying, Dr. McCarter discusses in depth topics such as:
scientific dating methods
analyzing the meaning of remains
methods of excavation.
Interpreting Archaeological Finds
For early archaeologists, Dr. McCarter points out, classification was the most important aspect of research. Today, although classification is no longer the archaeologist's main concern, it remains a fundamental aspect of processing excavated archaeological material.
By examining finds from the past, archaeologists can amass data about social and cultural practices, populations, diet, disease, age and sex, and causes of death.
You will learn what is discovered by examining such items as:
tools
pottery
human bones
man-made structures
art.
Professor McCarter also discusses how we can track the rise and fall of civilizations through evidence gleaned by scientific excavations.
These days, archaeology is part of popular culture. Museum displays are aimed at the general public. Mass tourism now visits ancient sites. Archaeology receives extensive publicity through popular writing and journalism and even contributes to home entertainment through prime-time programs.
Archaeology today, Dr. McCarter concludes, faces dilemmas posed by the destruction of thousands of unexcavated sites and by ethical questions hanging over the disposition of remains and artifacts, but continues to provide us with a priceless picture of how our past unfolded and our present came to be.
Available on Audiotape
This course is available in audio tape format only, in a series of 24 engaging lectures of 45 minutes each. Essential information is reproduced in the accompanying course guidebooks.
Course Lecture Titles
1- What is Archaeology?
2- The Scientific Underpinnings
3- Historians, Treasure Hunters, and Antiquarians
4- The Fathers of Scientific Excavation
5- Preservation of Archaeological Remains
6- Stratigraphic and Sequence Dating
7- Seriation, Ancient Sources, and Sediments
8- Dating Using Flora and Fauna
9- Radiocarbon and Potassium-Argon Dating
10- Other Scientific Dating Methods
11- Archaeological Survey
12- Excavation
13- Interpreting Finds
14- Stone Tools
15- Pottery
16- Bones
17- Features and Structures
18- Reconstructing Ancient Cultures
19- Archaeological Theories about Change
20- Paleolithic Art
21- The Neolithic Revolution
23- The Rise of Civilizations
24- Archaeology and Ethics
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