Goals of Archaeology

To construct cultural chronologies

The reconstruction of past life ways

To explain culture process (change)

Prehistoric

Deal with the time period prior to written records, in America, prehistory predates 1492, prehistoric archaeologists deal with a longer span of time, study the anonymous

Historic

deal with archaeology of the recent past, deals with shorter periods of time, can study known people, can study peoples whose general histories are known but whose daily lives are not well documented

Text-aided archaeology

Any archaeological study of a society that was literate and made use of texts, literature prehistoric cultures- Mesopotamian, India, china, Maya

The “crisis of identity”

Bicentennial brought hope to historical archaeology- anthropological emphasis, generalizing, everyday life of everyday people

JC Harrington and Ivar Noel Hume- fill-ins in the gaps of history; handmaiden to history- mostly not satisfactory; tested the documentary records; battle of horn-falsified documentary records

60s and 70s New Archaeology- Lewis Binford- should try to answer why and interpret things by using the scientific method; explaining culture change; processual archaeology- answer grander questions, process of culture; post-processual- critiques of processual

History vs. historical archaeology

Prehistoric archaeology- deal with the time period prior to written records; in Americas, prehistory pre-dates 1492; prehistoric archaeologists deal with a longer span of time; study the anonymous

Historic archaeology- deal with archaeology of the recent past, deals with shorter periods of time, can study known people, can study peoples whose general histories are known but whose daily lives are not well documented.

Domestic

places where people lived in the past; best place to study households (Household archaeology): found everywhere; smallest and most common social component of substance and most abundant; can directly observe adaptation to surrounding environment. Heritage- Andrew Jackson’s house- cotton plantation (1776-1845) 130 slaves, largest plantation in Tennessee, 7^th president, slave cabins have been investigated- lived in single rooms made out of brick (some duplexes); located on 3 acres; fire places for heating and cooking, attic was a bedroom for children; lots of animal bones

Special purpose sites

churches, stores hospitals hotels

Multipurpose sites

plantation could be consider this, cemeteries, mission complexes

Industrial sites

arcadia mill complex, factories, mines, and etc. Arcadia- largest water complex, located in Florida, lasted 35 years, threatened by development to start excavation, donkey pulled railroad

Military Sites

forts, battlefields, blocks, bunkers; Fort Union, North Dakota: 1^st fur trading outpost in 1827, 1826-1847 used to house soldiers, Indians and settlers; La Salle and his French Colony, Ft. St. Louis: didn’t last long, murdered by one of his men, colony attacked except for a few children, Spanish buried the people and cannons

most controversial; Freedman’s Cemetery in Dallas African Community Cemetery; only 300 death certificates out of 3,000 bodies; eternal data and external data; Little Bighorn Battlefield: human remains found and several burials, Sergeant Edward Botzer

Latin for "limit after which," is used to indicate the date after which an artifact must have been deposited. For example, if an archaeological site contains coins dated 1588, 1595, and others dated 1590 - 1625, the terminus post quem would be the coin dated 1625, i.e., the latest date obtained from the evidence.

Terminus ante quem

refers to the date before which an artifact or feature must have been deposited. Used with Terminus post quem ("limit after which"). Similarly, teminus ad quem ("limit to which") may also refer to the latest possible date of a non-punctual event (period, era, etc.), while terminus a quo ("limit from which") may refer to the earliest such date.

WPA

Works Progress Administration; putting people back to work during the Great Depression

Historic Sites Act

preserve for public use of historic sites and buildings for public use for nationalism

CCC

Civilian Conservation Corps

Society for Historical Archaeology

developed Historical Archaeology, a journal that is still around today, in 1965

Law of Superposition

The deepest layer of soil is the oldest while the layer on top is the youngest

Stratigraphy

the sequences of layered or stratified deposits

Microstratigraphy

the study of the smaller layers, better understanding

Formation processes

natural and cultural processes that help to form the archaeological record

Absolute

aka chromometric date; a date in actual years- coins: most have dates on them and can give some detail to how old the site is

Formula dating

historic artifacts change over time and changes can be measured in years via a mathematical formula; pipe stem dating; SC Harrington- earliest founders of Early American historical archaeology; Lewis Binford: Regression Formula was based on Harrington’s observations of pipe stems

pipe stems

notice that the blow holes got smaller on pipes

mean ceramic analysis

developed by Stanley South; used 18^th century British ceramics; listed all datable ceramics; charted dates of manufactured; dates occupation according to amount of overlap; what might skew the date range

MCD=∑(d1f1)/ ∑fi

Activity areas

smallest special unit studied by archeologist

Households

a group of people who lived together or are apart of the same economic unit

Neighborhoods

collection of households; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Communities

Collection of households and neighborhoods

settlement patterns

largest scale of analysis

Croft

pastures, fields and orchards; male’s space

Loft

Kitchen, garden, animal pens, dairies, yard; female’s space

Historiography

not always a series of facts

primary sources

contemporary records

secondary sources

interpretations of primary records

Federal Repository

maps, military records, newspapers, etc., correspondences, census roles

State and Provincial Archives

personal letters, diaries, photo collections, newspapers, old maps

Private and University Archives

rare manuscripts, letters, old photographs, rare books

Local repositories and Government Offices

land records, tax rolls, birth and death records, probates

Churches

baptismal records, marriage and death records

Middle-Range theory

Bridging arguments; both data sets are given equal weight; interpretative context; Parker Potter- documentary replaces ethnoarchaeology or experimental archaeology, four aspects of:

independent of data sets- two different interpretation of items

concept of ambiguity- expectation of archaeological record derived; deviation from expectations uncovered; ambiguities serve as basis for new questions

 use of descriptive grids-inventories, letters, and request

 ideal organizational behavior-fully described data sets; understand why each was created; reasons behind creation shaped from nature of data sets; organizational behaviors

ethnoarchaeology

observing living groups in order to make interpretations about similar cultures; experimental archaeology- taking ancient technology and making them

Techniques used to find sites

Historical Maps; Formal Survey Methods; Sub-surface surveying techniques

Urban Area Maps

historical event maps (Gettysburg and Boston Tea Party), Directory maps (pre phone books-name, address, occupation) atlas map (showed individual structures, Sonborn Fire Maps), Bird’s eye view maps (works of art, fairly accurate, reliable source of information), Specialized Map (plantation plans, boundaries of parcel, show location of buildings), Utility maps (show where pipes and sewers were located; 1840)

Rural Area Maps

17^th Century Maps (large scale maps) State Mandate Maps (states required counties to conduct surveys and must show everything) County Maps (large wall maps, 1850-1880, sold by subscription) Atlas Maps (property ownership placed by real estate maps, continued to be published to 20^th Century), Bird’s eye view maps, specialized maps

Pedestrian surveys

Systematically walking over an area making observations (typically 1^st step of Field work) material culture (pottery shards) found, battles found, metal found

Remote sensing techniques

Metal detector is the cheapest

Non-invasive ways of examining what is beneath the surface

Ground penetrating radar- thing mower and sends a low frequency into ground and send it back to tell what is there

Soil resistivity radar- sends an electrical current into ground and shows “hits”

Side-scanning sonar-emits sharp sound signals that bounce back to the computer

Geochemical surveys

Geochemical Survey

chemical makeup, soil enosphate and analysis exams soil composition

Vertical excavation

associated with prehistoric, time, exploring all human occupations, long excavations in one place, concerned with time, concentrate on exposing all layers of human occupation

Horizontal excavation

associated with historical; more concern with space, block scale excavation

Objectives of artifact classification

1)      Organize data- organize into manageable sets

2)      Describe Types- subdivision of groups

3)      Order the relationships between artifacts

4)      Study variability

Bioarchaeology

Reconstruct patterns of human behavior from biological data sets

Address questions of nutrition, pathology, occupation, and mortuary rituals

Information from skeletal remains

Size and strength of an individual

Stature

Evidence of disease

Age at death

Cause of death

Nutritional Status

Diet

Sex

Zooarchaeology

Study animal remains form archaeological sites

Faunal remains include animal bones and shell remains

The identification and analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites

Formative Period 1870-1952

Systemization Period 1952-1969

Integration Period 1969 to present

Use faunal analysis as a useful tool

Hypoplasias

Enamel Hypoplasias; Dark band on teeth

Harris lines

seen on the ends of long bones that are little dark bands that show a period of no growth

Dental caries

Eruption patterns in children; not bone, but are enamel and sturdy

Reconstructing diet from skeletal remains

Lesions on the skull

Distinctive pattern not seen till later, i.e. scalping

Flattened ribs and fused breastbone

Typical among females, i.e. corsets

Bone spurs on knees

Horse-back riding

Robust vs. Thin bones

Robust means higher diet of meat

Thin- malnutrition and difference between men and women

Diet higher in protein vs. protein deficiency

MNI

was defined by T.E. White in 1953. MNI accounts for each possible individual, meaning to count the least amount of individuals in an archeological site. An example of this is if there were two femurs, a left and a right, then the MNI= 1. If there was two left femurs the MNI=2.

Foodways and ethnicity

Ethnicity: food reflects ethnicity

McKee’s study at Kingsmill Plantation- what were the three aspects of faunal analysis that were studied?

Three Aspects Addressed:

Species represented

Skeletal Elements

Butchering

Kinds of animals provide evidence about economy, environment, trade, market, procurement, and dietary preferences

Different cuts of meat are more desirable

How people butcher animals can reflect preferences and cultural differences

What factors might play a role in the diversity of faunal remains found at a particular site (e.g. food taboos, religion, politics etc)?

Socioeconomic Status

Dietary Diversity

Political Factors

St. Augustine

Reflection of Leisure Time

Drayton Hall Plantation at Ft. Stanwix, South Carolina

Food Taboos

Husbandry practices

Butchering patterns

Stats Sign, Indicator of Time, Ethnic Marker

Botanical remains

Macrobotanicals (wood, charcoal, seeds, fibers)

Microbotanicals (phytoliths, pollen)

Types of Information Yielded:

Diet

Natural history

Environment

Mission Espiritu Santo

First location:

Established in April 10, 1722

Karankawa (Cocos, Copanes, Cujanes)

Franciscans from Zacatecas

Presidio de Loreto (later Presidio La Bahia)

Moved sometime in 1725

Second location:

Located in near Tonkawa Bank

Now in Victoria City Park

An interim mission or visita?

Still in use while 3^rd location was operating

TAS Excavation at 41VT10

Third location:

April of 1726 mission relocated

Established along the Guadalupe River

Founded for Aranama and Tamique

List and describe the 7 stages of a research design

1) Formulation: Problem/hypothesis definition, background research, feasibility studies

2) Implementation: Permits, funding, logistics.

3) Data gathering: Survey, Excavation.

4) Data processing:Cleaning and conservation, cataloging, initial classifications.

5) Analysis: Analytic classifications, temporal frameworks, spatial frameworks.

6) Interpretation: Application of culture history and/or cultural process theory, post-processual theory.

7) Publication: Research results used as foundation for new research.

Compare and contrast historical archaeology and prehistoricarchaeology

Prehistoric archaeology- deal with the time period prior to written records; in Americas, prehistory pre-dates 1492; prehistoric archaeologists deal with a longer span of time; study the anonymous

Historic archaeology- deal with archaeology of the recent past, deals with shorter periods of time, can study known people, can study peoples whose general histories are known but whose daily lives are not well documented.

Define middle-range theory and explain how it has been adapted for historical archaeology.

Middle-Range theory- Bridging arguments; both data sets are given equal weight; interpretative context; Parker Potter- documentary replaces ethnoarchaeology or experimental archaeology, four aspects of:

independent of data sets- two different interperatation of items

concept of ambiguity- expectation of archaeological record derived; deviation from expectations uncovered; ambiguities serve as basis for new questions

use of descriptive grids-inventories, letters, and request

 ideal organizational behavior-fully described data sets; understand why each was created; reasons behind creation shaped from nature of data sets; organizational behaviors

Describe a common myth in history that has been challenged by archaeology.

Hermitage: Home of Andrew Jackson

Building sequences revealed that is glossed over or forgotten by historians

            Mansion rebuilt in 1836 after fire

            New kitchen was built

            Kitchen was dethatched

            First kitchen (1831) attached to back wing of house

Changes in architecture over time are physical representation of changes in Jackson’s career

Rebuilt kitchen was supervised by Jackson’s son

McKee proposes changes to new kitchen reflects son’s own vision

Sharp separation of living space from farm operations and slave community

Andrew Jackson, Jr.

            Noted as a failure as a planter

            Lived alone with his family at the plantation

Made changes in house that privatized and compartmentalized family quarters

Separating the family from plantation or family aspect of property

Insolating himself socially from slaves

Post-fire kitchen made a statement about social distinctiveness

Myth because lack of documents, sloppy scholarship, attempt to simplify, smooth over and solidify contentious details of a complicated man