The Nature of Ancient History

Question 1

Stratigraphic Dating

Answer 1

A relative dating method.

The study of soil layers (stratum/strata) being excavated based on the rule of superposition: the deeper, the older.

Question 2

Typography Dating

Answer 2

A relative dating method.

The comparing of an object type over time, ordering them chronologically based on changes in features/style.

Includes the Three-Age system, which dictates that stone is older than bronze which is older than iron.

Question 3

Seriation Dating

Question 4

Radiocarbon Dating

Answer 4

An absolute dating method.

The dating of an artefact in relation to the amount of carbon-14 that has decayed from the organic specimen at its steady rate.

Includes accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS dating), which is more accurate, requires less specimen and dates up to 70 000 years ago.

Question 5

Dendrochronology

Answer 5

An absolute dating method.

The practice of measuring age based on the growth rings of a tree on wooden artefacts.

Question 6

Potassium-Argon Dating

Answer 6

An absolute dating method.

Dates volcanic rocks and fossils by…

Question 7

Fission Track Dating

Answer 7

An absolute dating method.

The method of dating the thermal age of uranium-bearing minerals in artefacts.

Question 8

Thermoluminescence

Answer 8

An absolute dating method.

The dating of ceramic objects by reheating it and measuring the radiation released by the minerals, which has built up over time since the artefact was originally fired.

Question 9

Crop Marks

Aerial Survey

Answer 9

Crops display differences depending on whether they have something buried beneath them, often ripening later and growing taller, but this is only observable from above.

Question 10

Soil Marks

Aerial Survey

Answer 10

After a field has been ploughed, soil may be darker where a ditch, pit or mound was, exposing buried features.

Question 11

Shadow Marks

Aerial Survey

Answer 11

Abnormal mounds become noticeable with the presence of sunlight from the shadows cast when the sun is low.

Question 12

Satellite Photography

Aerial Survey

Answer 12

A more efficient method of aerial surveying as it covers more than 200 times the area at once.

Question 13

Field Walking

Surveying Techniques

Answer 13

Simple observation is one of the first steps once an area has been identified, used to note any surface finds which are then plotted on a map by coordinates.

Question 14

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

Surveying Techniques: Geophysical Survey

Answer 14

An electromagnetic pulse is sent into the ground and reflections from buried objects are received for data on a profile map.

Question 15

Resistivity Surveying

Surveying Techniques: Geophysical Survey

Answer 15

A resistivity meter consisting of two buried metal probes and the current between them measures the resistance of the soil.

Question 16

Magnetic Surveying

Surveying Techniques: Geophysical Survey

Answer 16

A proton magnometer detects subsurface materials based on magnetism.

Question 17

Grid System

Methods of Excavation

Answer 17

The site is divided into a grid to be excavated, exposing layers of strata, which can be used to indicate age of artefacts and recorded according to the coordinates of the grid.

Question 18

Open Area Excavation

Methods of Excavation

Answer 18

Now more common than grid system.

It focuses on the horizontal dimension by uncovering each individual layer and emphasising the relationship between sources within.

Question 19

Climate

Preservation of Evidence

Answer 19

Dry climates create an absence of moisture, preventing natural decay (e.g. Egypt).

Temperate regions preserve evidence under layers of silt in areas like lakes and rivers (e.g. Lindow Man).

Cold climates freeze and prevent natural decay (e.g. Otzi the Iceman).

Question 20

Geological Conditions

Preservation of Evidence

Answer 20

The composition of soil in some areas may react with evidence to preserve it, such as minerals preventing organic decay or layers of ash encasing it (e.g. Pompeii).

Question 21

Actions of People

Preservation of Evidence

Answer 21

Deliberate preservation are actions humans actively take to prevent the degradation of evidence.

Accidental preservation in preserving their heritage by having burial customs, allowing artefacts to be rediscovered, or carbonising their own artefacts with fire.

Question 22

Rediscovery of Evidence

Preservation of Evidence

Answer 22

Archaeologists actively attempt to rediscover artefacts while occasionally, they are simply found. An example of this is with wartime hoards — such as one in 1992 Hoxne, England where a stash was hidden during the Anglo-Saxon invasion.

Question 23

Natural Environment

Destruction of Evidence

Answer 23

Climate change, natural disasters and weathering effects cause immense loss in the present and past by destroying evidence.

Plants can cause damage, such as in Angkor, Cambodia, where tree roots destroyed ancient ruins.

Animals can cause damage, such as termites eating into wooden artefacts.

Question 24

Human Agents

Destruction of Evidence

Answer 24

Warfare is the worst example of human destructiveness, accompanied by looting and damage (e.g. Taliban dynamiting of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001).

Tourism causes mass crowds to cause damage to archaeological sites through mere interaction.

Development in trying a provide for modern needs struggles to coexist with historical preservation.

Various forms of pollution cause damage, in particular air pollution, which can cause corrosive acid rain (e.g. Athenian Acropolis), and ground pollution.

Question 25

Who forged evidence at the Palace of Knossos? (4)

Answer 25

Sir Arthur Evans (British archaeologist)
Duncan Mackenzie (Evan’s assistant)
Minos Kalokairinos (Cretan businessman)
Leonard Robert Palmer (British philologist)

Question 26

How was the Palace of Knossos forged?

Answer 26

In 1900, Sir Evans uncovers the Palace of Knossos in Crete, rebuilding the concrete and paintings to his interpretation.

Question 27

Why was the Palace of Knossos forged?

Answer 27

Imperialist ideals: Evans created parallels between Minoan civilisation and Britain.

Cretan Labyrinth: Promotes Evans’ theories that the palace was the labyrinth of the Minotaur.

Cretan Superiority: Prove the intellectual superiority of Crete over mainland Greece.

Question 28

Arguments For the Role of Museums (3)

Answer 28

Preservation of history for foreign diversity.

Primary educational reference for researchers and students.

Learn from the past.

Question 29

Arguments Against the Role of Museums (4)

Answer 29

Cultural theft and imperialism (e.g. Rosetta Stone).

Misunderstanding and appropriation of history through biased representation.

Lack of repatriation to countries of origin.

Commercialism and commodification of artefacts.

Question 30

Arguments For the Return of the Parthenon Marbles (4)

Answer 30

Continuity and integrity of the Parthenon monument.

Marbles have already spent 200 away from the rest of the monument.

To be housed in the new 2004 Acropolis Museum.

Restore the ‘supreme symbol of Greek heritage and western civilisation’.

Question 31

Arguments Against the Return of the Parthenon Marbles (3)

Answer 31

Lord Elgin maintained the quality of statue from natural decay and protected from the occupying Ottoman Empire.

Historical significance in Britain longer than Greece has been an independent state.

Play ambassadorial role in British Museum, which is visited by more than 4.6 million people annually.

Question 32

Steps for the Formation of Bog Bodies (5)

Answer 32

1. Poor drainage and waterlog from melting ice forms water basins in areas of low elevation.
2. Increased plant growth and decay allows for the growth of sphagnum moss which covers the surface and creates a bog filled with peat containing minerals, acids, and little to no oxygen.
3. A body is buried in the bog, likely during winter or early spring in order for the corpse decay to immediately stagnate.
4. The anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment prevents bacteria growth and humic acid increases the surrounding acidity.
5. Flesh dehydrates, and body becomes embalmed.

Question 33

Primary Theories of Bog Bodies (4)

Answer 33

Criminal Punishment
Ritual/Religious Punishment
Kingship Rituals/Liminal Zone
Wiederganger Theory

Question 34

Bog Bodies: Criminal Punishment

Answer 34

Roman historian, Tacitus, proposed the idea that the bodies were criminals suffering punishment, referring to ancient punishments such as the ritual drowning in the lake as a sacrifice to the goddess, Nerthus.

Question 35

Bog Bodies: Kingship Rituals/Liminal Zone

Answer 35

Irish scholars saw the possibility in association with kingship rituals or the marking of borders, whether that be between communities or in the liminal zone, which is the area between the lands of the living and dead.

Question 36

Bod Bodies: Ritual/Religious Offering

Answer 36

Sacrifices made in the winter to bring a sooner and bountiful coming of spring.

Celtics commonly sacrificed to Taranis (god of thunder), Esus (god of the underworld), Teutates (god of the tribe).

Festival of Beltane: An ancient Celtic tribe festival for times of great difficulty (e.g. bad harvest, attack), involving human sacrifice to the sun god, Belenos. In it, partially burnt bread was prepared and whoever received the burnt portion was a ‘devoted one’ and sacrificed.

Question 37

Bog Bodies: Wiederganger Theory

Answer 37

Draugr were undead creatures in Norse mythology who rose from their graves and terrorised local villages, so the theory proposed that bodies were placed in bogs to keep the dead deceased.

Question 38

Where was Lindow Man found and where is he now?

Answer 38

Found in a peat bog in Cheshire, England on 1 August 1984.

Now on display at the British Museum in a specialised exhibit.

Question 39

Physical Details of Lindow Man

Answer 39

The body is approximately 2000 years old, placing him during the occupation of the Roman Empire (Iron Age).

The body died approximately at age 25, was 168cm tall, and weighed 60-65 kg.

Question 40

Lindow Man: Triple Death Theory

Answer 40

Lindow Man was killed by:
1. A blow to the head with a marrow object.
2. Incision to the neck.
3. Garrotted, which asphyxiated and broke neck.

Question 41

Lindow Man: Electron Microscope (2)

Answer 41

Fingernails are smooth, indicating no hard labour.

Fingernails are buffed, possibly from textile manufacturing.

Question 42

Lindow Man: Scanning Electron Microscope (3)

Answer 42

Hair strand was cut with a step, revealing that it was cut with two blades.

Roundworm eggs were found in stomach, but not severely enough to affect health and may have been common in the Iron Age.

Mistletoe pollen in stomach (lightly poisonous).

Question 43

Lindow Man: ESR Spectroscopy (1)

Answer 43

Bran, several other unprocessed grains, and charcoal were found in stomach (Festival of Beltane)

Question 44

Lindow Man: Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (1)

Answer 44

High copper content in the skin around the torso, possibly body paint.

Question 45

Lindow Man: Radiocarbon Dating

Answer 45

Died between 2 BCE and 119 CE (Iron Age).

Question 46

Lindow Man: Xeroradiography (2)

Answer 46

Skull fragment found driven into brain.

Brain was swollen, indicating that after blow to head, Lindow Man was unconscious but still alive.

Question 47

Lindow Man: Fibre Optic Endoscopy (2)

Answer 47

Stab wound in throat.

Garrotte in neck punctured jugular and larynx.

Question 48

Lindow Man: CT Scanning (2)

Answer 48

Schmorl nodes found on brain, indicators of mild osteoarthritis.

Brain was swollen, supporting xeroradiograph evidence.

Question 49

‘The Druids hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree on which it grows provided it is oak. They choose the oak to form groves, they do not perform any religious rites without its foliage…’

Answer 49

Pliny the Elder

Links to mistletoe pollen in Lindow Man’s stomach, which is poisonous and known to cause convulsions.

Question 50

‘These men predict the future… by the sacrifice of holy animals… and in very important matters, they prepare a human, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing the way his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of blood, they are able to read the future.’

Answer 50

Diodorus Siculus

Lindow Man was alternatively stabbed in the neck but in combination with mistletoe, likely convulsed and bled out.

Question 51

‘The nature of the death penalty differs according to the offence: traitors and deserters are hung from trees; cowards and poor fighters and sexual perverts are plunged in the mud of marshes with a hurdle on their heads.’

Answer 51

Tacitus

Roman criminal punishment, possibly referencing garrotte and bog.

Question 52

‘ …after publicly offering up a human life, they celebrate the grim ‘initiation’ of their barbarous worship. There is a further tribute which they pay to the grove: no one enters it until he has been bound with a cord.’

Answer 52

Tacitus

Possibly referencing garrotte and bog.

Question 53

‘This is followed by days of fun and merrymaking wherever [Mother Earth, the Goddess of Spring] goes to stay. All is peaceful and quiet until the Goddess grows tired of the company of ordinary men and women and returns to her holy wood. After this the chariot, the robes, and the Goddess herself are washed clean in a hidden lake. This task is done by slaves who are then drowned in the lake.’

Answer 53

Tacitus

Lindow Man may have been one of the slaves to wash the Goddess before being drowned in what would become the bog.

Question 54

‘The Romans put a stop both to these customs and to the ones connected with sacrifice and divination, as they were in conflict with our own ways: for example, they would strike a man who had been consecrated for sacrifice in the back with a sword, and make prophecies based on his death-spasms.’

Answer 54

Strabo

Lindow Man was alternatively struck on the head, but ‘death-spasms’ may have been mistletoe-induced.

Question 55

Where was Otzi found and where is he now?

Answer 55

Found in the Otzal Alps between Italy and Austria on 19 September 1991.

Now on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

Question 56

Physical Details of Otzi the Iceman

Answer 56

The body is approximately 5300 years old, placing him during the New Stone Age.

The body died approximately at age 45,
and was 160cm tall.

Question 57

Otzi: X-Ray (1)

Answer 57

Flint arrowhead was imbedded into shoulder.

Question 58

Otzi: Histological/Biochemical Evidence (1)

Answer 58

Bone-deep cut to the base of thumb, possibly a defensive wound.

Question 59

Otzi: DNA Analysis (1)

Answer 59

Cereals and uncleaned ibex meat in intestines, which must have been eaten up to 2 hours before death.

Question 60

Otzi: Mitochondrial Study (1)

Answer 60

Otzi was infertile, a possible reason for communal rejection.

Question 61

Otzi: CT Scanning (4)

Answer 61

Clotted brain tissue and bruising indicate a blow to the head.

Arrowhead in the subclavian artery indicate death by blood loss.

Several cavities and extensive enamel wear indicate bad dental care.

Calcium build-up in arteries indicate a genetic predisposition for heart disease.

Question 62

Otzi: Endoscopy (1)

Answer 62

Clotting fibrin indicates short survival after head wound.