Skills And Methods Used By Archaeologists

Question 1

What are the skill and methods used by archaeologists?

Answer 1

Radio - carbon dating , geophysical surveying, pollen analysis, stratigraphy , dendrochronology , DNA testing , 3D reconstruction and bones

Question 2

What do human, animals and plants have ?

Answer 2

Carbon 14 ( only when they are alive )

Question 3

What happens after death ?

Answer 3

The level of carbon 14 in the once living thing tissue begins to drop at a steady rate.

Question 4

What does carbon 14 do ?

Answer 4

It can tell us how old the person was because the older the tissue the less carbon 14 it contains

Question 5

What is Geophysical surveying ?

Answer 5

Geophysical surveying is like a x-ray of the ground , maps or images of any archaeological evidence underground are made without an excavation

Question 6

What can geophysical survey do?

Answer 6

Geophysical survey can locate artefacts as well as ruin buildings and structures.

Question 7

When has geophysical surveying been used ?

Answer 7

It has been used , in recent years , to investigate Newgrange , Ireland most famous passage tomb , at Brú na Bóinne , Co.Meath

Question 8

What is pollen analysis?

Answer 8

Pollen analysis is the study of pollen remains to find out what was growing at a site during a particular time period.

Question 9

What is pollen analysis used for ?

Answer 9

Pollen analysis can be used to date objects and can also tell us when forest were cleared and farming began in an area .

Question 10

When was pollen analysis used ?

Answer 10

Pollen analysis was used at the important Neolithic site of the Céide fields in Co. Mayo

Question 11

What is stratigraphy?

Answer 11

Stratigraphy is used to date artefacts and evidence by how deep in the ground they were found. The deeper they are the older they will be.

Question 12

When has stratigraphy been used ?

Answer 12

It has been used in most archaeological excavations

Question 13

What is dendrochronology ?

Answer 13

Dendrochronology , also called tree-ring dating , is a method of dating that uses the unique growth patterns of tree rings as the guide

Question 14

What happens is you cut through a tree trunk ?

Answer 14

You will see rings spreading from centre onwards : each ring in 1 year of growth

Question 15

What would happen to the tree if the summer was good ?

Answer 15

The tree would grow faster which would make the rings wider

Question 16

What can DNA testing tell us?

Answer 16

DNA testing can tell us about the origins and ethnicity of the person - in other words , where they came from and who their people were.

Question 17

Where can archaeologists find bodies ?

Answer 17

Archaeologists can find bodies when excavating a site

Question 18

When do they use DNA testing ?

Answer 18

When they find bodies on excavation sites

Question 19

What is 3D reconstruction used for?

Answer 19

3D reconstruction used to reconstruct a part of a body eg.skull

Question 20

Why are bones useful to archaeologists ?

Answer 20

Archaeologists can learn a lot from examining bones

Question 21

What can the pelvis tell an archaeologist?

Answer 21

It can tell them if the person was male of female

Question 22

What can teeth tell archaeologists?

Answer 22

It can tell them a rough idea of how old the person was

Question 23

What can bones show archaeologists?

Answer 23

Bones can show signs of disease or bad nutrition , or if they are damaged it could be that the persons death was violent