Post-Processual Archaeology

He could see, through his excavations, that there were separate groups of humans that he came across and therefore the phrases urban and industrial revolution came about. Childe didn’t merely describe and correlate the culture sequences he attempted to account for their origin as well (Renfrew and Bahn, 2012:36). Not only could Childe notice different cultures but “in 1942, Childe used the distribution of tombs on Rousay to estimate the size and distribution of population on this Scottish island during the Neolithic period (Trigger, 2006:376),” and later on whilst he was excavating at sites such as Skara Brae the “analysis of the community and the estimation of population size became much easier (Renfrew and Bahn, 2012:190).” Throughout his life “as early as 1925, Childe had employed a functional view of culture to facilitate his culture-historical analysis (Trigger, 2006:397),” this concept of culture –historical approach is still being considered and thought about in archaeology today. “During the years of 1928 and 1957 Childe revolutionised specific words relating to the past. These terms became important, not just for archaeologists but also historians and more importantly the public. This terminology that was introduced allowed for clear stages that can be seen throughout the chronological timeline of the past (Greene, 1999:97).” These words such as, urban

Archaeology is the study of the ancient past, through the recovery and analysis of material culture. During the development of archaeology, various different kinds of scientific techniques have been established to aid in archaeological investigation. Recent archaeological techniques and processes such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Radiocarbon Dating are utilised to help better understand a civilisation, specifically the site of Lindow Man. These modern methods have supported in recognizing Lindow Man’s identity and important information regarding his death such as his appearance, his stomach content, what he had eaten prior death and his age. This information has since helped lead scientists to believe in

Praetzellis did a superb job of teaching different theories and methods of archaeology through this text. Personally, I did not fully understand processualism vs. post processualism until Dave man-splained it to Sandra later in the book. Terms that we went over in class and read in the Johnson textbook, suddenly made sense upon reading it in a conversational setting. What really

This essay will aim to cover several archaeology techniques and methodologies that would have been used during excavation of archeological sites, in particular the New Kinord site. These methods will provide an insight into a wide range of information that I am interested in discovering. These include what the inhabitants of the site did for a living, their diet and how the term of occupation can be determined.

Archaeologists are now able to come together with natives and learn about the past as a team, getting more insight into ceremonials, traditions, sacred ritueals, everyday workings, and lifestyles of native peoples. Respecting the grounds and artifacts of these indigenous people is respecting their heritage- our universal heritage. The unfolding of information allows archaeologists to gain perspective on the people and land before the white

-Archaeologists reconstructed the environment and studied artifacts from a specific time period to learn about people from that time.

The influential Lt. General Pitt Rivers has been called the father of scientific archaeology by many, in fact, there is a publication titled General Pitt Rivers, the father of scientific archaeology (by Mark Bowden, published in 1984 and reprinted in both 1990 and 1995). This title is not granted lightly, and it is made evident by the methodology and works published by Pitt Rivers that he was much more scientifically-oriented and objective than most other archaeologists at the time and before him.

The examination of this site would answer questions that are relevant to the development and abandonment of this site. Proposed excavations will begin by coring the soil of the most significant anomalies from the resistivity results. Soil coring will be done in each of the proposed 2 meter by 2 meter squares previously chosen for excavation (see attached site map plan). Soil cores yielding positive results, will then lead to shovel test pits; from there transecting trenches connecting those test pits will be excavated. It must be recognized that the precise location of the area must available for subjective change based on the results from coring and test pits. The objective of this excavation is to provide characterizations of features and sequences of the archaeological components of this particular archaeological site. There will be a need for the examination of all artefactual and ecofactual remains that are

Prior to applying to archaeology graduate school next fall, field school experience that will train me in survey, excavation, identification, and meticulous record-keeping of artifacts and botanical remains is imperative. I have performed research in Dr. Kacy Hollenback’s laboratory at SMU, preparing soil samples for analysis, but have yet to work with material culture. The Mohegan

Finding an arrowhead is a dream every child has held at one time or another. The ones who hold that dream the longest become archaeologists. Studying the lithic material from a site can seem tedious and dull, but the information that can be gleaned from it is invaluable. The type of lithic material can provide insight into the lifestyle, tool production, trading habits, and a possible time period of habitation. We aimed to discover some of this information from the items recovered during the two weeks of excavation at the East Carolina University Summer Ventures Archaeological Field Methods class.

Participation by archaeologists in the indigenous construction of heritage remains a difficult and controversial issue (McGuire 1992:37, Nicholas and Andrews 1997a:12, 1997b:277; Trigger 2006:177-189). Following the critical theory of Habermas (1971:14-22, 1973:32-40) and its use in archaeology (Leone et al. 1987:283-292; Lyons 2005:1; Wylie 1985:138), archaeological practice is clearly a socio-political action in and for the present (Tilley 1989:105). Collaborative research with stakeholders may influence interpretation and results for social and political gain (McGhee 2008:580-581). This influence may

The different methods used by archaeologists over time to investigate the sites of Pompeii and

My sophomore year, I fell in love with Gertrude Bell. A writer, an explorer, and an archeologist, she introduced me to the mystery and excitement of anthropology. I spent that summer nose deep in Poems from the Divan of Hafiz, and The Thousand and One Churches. The more I read about the Ottoman Empire, the ruins of Ukhaidir and her adventures, the more I wanted to know. Her writings stirred within me a mixture of emotions: excitement, curiosity, passion, longing. The stories were no longer enough; I had to find a way to re-live Bell’s adventures.

Representing the vast neolithic civilization that was Catalhoyuk in a single exhibit is a difficult task that requires an incorporation of three specific things: tangible artifacts taken from the site of Catalhoyuk, visual aides explaining the archaeological data regarding the artifacts, and live archaeologists to explain the data to exhibit visitors. My exhibit will include all of these. Laid out in a circular room, with 3 possible entrances--one between each section of the exhibit--my exhibit will include three separate sections that present figurines, food practices, and cultural findings, directly derived from the excavation at the Catalhoyuk site. This main goal of this exhibit is to allow a balance between accurately presenting the

• The study of the past based on recovering and identifying artifacts and making inferences about those who left these artifacts is called Archaeology .