Notes

Question 1

Aerial survey- crop marks

Aerial Survey- soil marks

Answer 1

• Crops don’t grow tall when planted over the remains of buildings, and they ripen later
• Crops over ditches and pits ripen earlier and grow taller
• Effects can be seen more clearly from the sky
• Infrared photography may enhance this process

Aerial Survey- soil marks
• Where a ditch, pit or mound once existed, soil colour may be darker
• Exposes buried features e.g. walls and buildings
• Visible from air when very low earthworks or mounds cast shadows at dawn, sunset or in winter months when the sun is low in the sky
• By following shadow marks, a site is revealed

Question 2

Satellite photography

Answer 2

• Archaeological sites have been located using satellite remote sensing technology

Question 3

Surveying Techniques

Answer 3

• Ground penetrating radar – electronic pulse sent into the ground, receiver the reflections of various buried objects and then data received is plotted on a profile map. This technique is most useful where there is a uniform soil and sand conditions
• Resistivity survey – passes an electric current to measure the resistance of the soil to the current.
• Magnetic surveying – detects the magnetic properties of materials. Detects iron by buildings, and soils or organic materials (bodies)

Question 4

Grid systems

Answer 4

Strata- layers exposed during excavation
Stratigraphy- study of strata
Lowest layer is the oldest layer
Closest layer to the surface is the youngest

Question 5

Tools for Excavation

Answer 5

• Initially – heavy earth moving machinery removing unimportant topsoil
• Picks shovels and buckets
• When finds appear, finer tools e.g. brushes and dental picks
• Remains must remain IN THEIR ORIGINAL POSITION
• Dirt or sand removed from the site is sieved to reveal tiny find e.g. teeth and jewellery

Question 6

Dating system-

Answer 6

Absolute dating-THE PROCESS OF GATHERING EXACT DATED THROUGH SCIENTIFIC METHODS

Radio carbon dating- dates organic substances, measures the decay

Question 7

AMS Radio- carbon dating

Answer 7

• sophisticated then a radio

- date up to 70000 years

Question 8

Dendrochronology

Answer 8

• Tree ring dating
• counting the growth of the rings
• scientists can work out a long, sequence for a region a thousand years back

Question 9

Potassium Argon Dating

Answer 9

• USED BY GEOLOGISTS TO DATE VOLCANIC ROCK

Question 10

THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING

Answer 10

• Can date pottery and inorganic material