Skills Used And Methods Used By Archaeologits

Question 1

What are the skills 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 humans,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 an X-ray of the ground. Maps or images of any archaeological evidence underground are made without excavation.

Question 6

What can geophysical surveying do?

Answer 6

Geophysical surveys can locate artefacts as well as ruined buildings and structures

Question 7

When has geophysical surveying been used ?

Answer 7

It has been used in recent years to investigate New grange, Irelands most famous passage tomb, 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

Question 9

What is pollen analysis used for?

Answer 9

Pollen analysis can be used to date objects and can also tell us when forests 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. They deeper the artefacts are they older they will be

Question 12

When has Stratigraphy been used?

Answer 12

It has been used in most archaeological excavations

Question 13

What dendrochronology?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What happens when you cut open a tree trunk?

Answer 14

If you cut through a tree trunk, you will see rings spreading from centre onwards: each ring equals a 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 on excavation sites

Question 18

When do archaeologists use DNA testing?

Answer 18

When they fund bodies on excavation sites

Question 19

What is 3D reconstruction used for?

Answer 19

3D reconstruction is used to reconstruct a part of a body .e.g skull

Question 20

Why are bones useful for archaeologists?

Answer 20

Archaeologists can lean a lot from examining bones

Question 21

What can the pelvis tell an archaeologist?

Answer 21

It can tell an archaeologist if the person was male or female

Question 22

What can the teeth tell archaeologists?

Answer 22

It can give archaeologists a rough idea of how old the person was

Question 23

What can bones show us?

Answer 23

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