Lecture 1: History of Archaeology Flashcards
what is archaeology?
the study of material culture recovered from sites to learn about human behaviour and the past
who was the first (known) archaeologist? what did he contribute to the discipline?
Nabonius, and he did the first known dating of an artifact
when did the first known archaeologist live?
6th century BCE
what is antiquarianism?
the pursuit objects with the goal to impress
what are cabinets of curiosity?
personal museums/displays of valuable objects to be shown off
when was antiquarianism popular?
the 17th century
what was the issue with antiquanarianism?
led to an increase in looting (theft for the purpose of acquiring)
where/when were the first excavations in archaeology?
Pompeii in 1748
what was the goal of archaeology at the time of the first excavations?
to acquire objects of value
what is the story behind Indian Mounds?
initially believed to be built by “mythical mound builders”
- Thomas Jefferson used stratigraphy to show they were built by Indigenous peoples
what is uniformitarianism? who came up with it?
Charles Lyells
- states that the processes that have happened in the past are happening today
- change occurs in uniform ways, the present is the key to the past
when was uniformitarianism popular?
19th century
what was Darwin’s theory of evolution?
that all organisms are subject to natural selection (survival of the fittest)
what was the starting point for the archaeological record?
the “discovery” of Indigenous people (seen as primitive and frozen in time)
what was the three age system? who came up with it?
C.J Thomsen
stone age -> bronze age -> iron age
(was based on technological innovation, could not be generalized worldwide)
what was the division of humankind? who came up with it?
Tylor and Morgan
savagery (hunting) -> barbarism (farming) -> civilization
(very eurocentric, not all cultures fit)
what period followed Antiquarianism? what time period?
The Classificatory-Historical Period (1900-1960)
what was the classificatory-historical period about?
a descriptive approach looking at differences across spatial and temporal boundaries (time and region)
- goal was to develop regional chronologies
what is assemblage/archaeological culture?
artifact types in a given area and time period
what did Gordon Childe study?
- the how and why of transformations
what did Julian Steward study?
the relationship and interactions between humans and the environment
what is cultural ecology?
the concept that the environment has an impact on cultural change (adaptation -> change -> record)
what did Sir Grahame Clark study and contribute?
how humans adapted to environments
- he was the first to study ecofacts
