New and Old World Archaeology Essay

All the way from the start of civilization through to the Early Christianity there has been a pantheon of; destruction, recognition, wars, cultural diffusion, religious breakthroughs, laws that have been established, kings and queens crowned and dethroned. The Mesopotamian Civilization it was the land between two rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers that civilization first began.

Ancient civilizations such as Sumeria, Egypt, and Babylon have all contributed to humankind and some way through their major achievements. the achievements of these civilizations have all helped later civilizations develop due to the examples of these past groups. some ancient civilizations developed techniques of farming and others comma some of the first written languages. All of these achievements are equally important for later developing civilizations. The Sumerians were a civilization that helped to contribute to humankind with their achievements involving architecture, weapons, and writing.

Geography had a tremendous impact on early civilizations, the topography of the different regions played a key role in their development and formation. This statement by Fernand Braudel “ Geography is the stage in which humanity’s endless dramas are played out” (Getz et al., Exchanges, 26) is a very moving and telling description. The terrain, whether it is natural or man made is not the end all, be all. It does however affect the stage a great deal. Mountainous areas act as blockades, which keep the societies independent, plains open up the area, and rivers enable everything to move around freely. 2

Scotland has an abundance of archaeology all throughout the country and all within different parts of prehistory. Scottish archaeology has a big impact on both the rest of the UK and on the rest of Europe. Although during the beginning of the 20th century, archaeology was seen as nothing more than labour, with the help of the two great men which held ‘the Abercromby chair’ – both with their own contributions to Scottish archaeology as a whole – it soon rocketed into the discipline what we see today.

Ancient civilizations made some important contributions to our life today. They started around 3500 BC. Ancient civilizations also achieved many things. Some of those things were new inventions, the use of new technology, writing systems and architectural skills. Two of the many civilizations that did these things were the Chinese and Egyptians.

The Neolithic Era lasted from about 9,000-3,000 BCE. We are not exactly sure of when it started but this is the best estimate. The Neolithic Era was a period of human history when the start of agriculture arose and came before the first civilizations. The Neolithic Revolution took place in many different regions of the world. They where not that advanced so they made tools out of wood, stone and bone.

BOSTON, MA (June 23, 2014)—A world-class collection of jewels from ancient Nubia at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will go on view this summer in Gold and the Gods: Jewels of Ancient Nubia. The MFA’s collection of Nubian adornments is the most comprehensive outside Khartoum—the result of an early 20th-century expedition by the Museum with Harvard University. The exhibition opens on July 19, and includes works by Nubian goldsmiths and jewelers, who were among the most innovative in the ancient world. Featuring some 100 excavated ornaments dating from 1700 BC to AD 300, which will be on view in the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery, the exhibition explores the royal tombs of kings and queens, which were filled with elaborate jewelry such as necklaces, amulets, stacked bracelets and earrings. The MFA is unique in its ability to mount an exhibition of Nubian jewelry and adornment drawn exclusively from its own collection. In addition to gold––Nubia’s most important commodity––jewelry in the exhibition incorporates precious materials such as lapis lazuli (imported from Afghanistan), blue chalcedony (imported from Turkey), amethystine quartz and carnelian, as well as enamel and glass––both of which were rare and valuable new technologies at the time. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated MFA Publication on Nubian jewelry.

Merriam-Webster defines the word artifact as something created by human usually for a practical purpose: an object remaining from a particular period. In my family, there aren’t a lot of artifacts, but we do have a special artifact that means a lot to my mom’s side of the family. Similar to the way Brazilians celebrate Brazilian Carnival, in New Orleans, we celebrate Mardi Gras. Celebrating Mardi Gras is my family tradition. But my mom and I haven’t been in years due to school complications and other commitments. Every year when my mom and I miss Mardi Gras we go to the basement and find different Mardi Gras beads, and where them all day.

The following report details the archaeological fieldwork conducted by New South Associates, Inc. for proposed widening and improvements along U.S. 158 in Forsyth and Guilford counties, North Carolina. The purpose of the survey was to identify and evaluate archaeological sites for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), within the proposed project area of potential effects (APE). This project was conducted for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) (TIP R-2577ABC, State Project No. 37405). This is a state-funded project covered under a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) individual permit. As such, the USACE serves as the lead federal agency and the work complies with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), as amended.

Civilizations of the Stone Age were known for their use of stone implements, while the Bronze Age is signified by the use of bronze tools and technology. The Bronze Age is part of the three-tiered classification system of ancient civilizations described by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen: the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The Bronze Age occurred at overlapping and slightly different times in various parts of the world. This is due in part to the limited availability of copper-tin ores. Certain places, like western Asia, did not see Bronze until trade brought this metal to the region. Notable civilizations during the Bronze Age were the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, and Egyptians. The Bronze Age dates from 3200-600 BC in Europe and 3300-1200 BC in the Middle East. The Bronze Age collapse occurred around 1200 B.C.E. What followed was a dark age of decreased literacy and technology and a significant reduction in population.

The Cobb Institute Museum at Mississippi State University displays items from the Old World and the New World. When I visited the museum I noticed a wide variety of artifacts. The Old world side contained pieces from many Old World countries, while the New World side featured a lot of pieces that are from local areas. Since there was such a vast number of artifacts at the Cobb Museum, I have decided to focus on the clay vessels and etchings in the Old and New World.

Native American art history expressed in jewelry, quillwork, beading, and creation of items for everyday living are replete in symbolism incorporating precious and semi-precious stones.

Towards the mid 19th century, methods in excavating Pompeii and Herculaneum changed due to the concerns associated with the preservation and conservation of the site. As a result of this, archaeologists such as Giuseppe Fiorelli and Amedeo Maiuri developed new methods and approaches towards the excavation of Pompeii.

These two periods have many differences and over the years technology has improved and made a very big impact on the lives of people today. The period between these two stone ages have seen the forms of art, images and the changes of people and animals in their everyday

     A pattern that was common among the ancient civilizations of China, Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India was that most of them started as a dictatorship, a monarchy, or a dynasty. Eventually, most of them changed to a democracy, republic, or to class systems. Almost all of the civilizations had one or two great leaders. For example, Egypt had King Tut, Greece had Alexander the Great and Rome had Julius Caesar.