Unit 1 Flashcards
*What is Archaeology?
The scientific study of the human past as seen through durable material remains
artifacts, architecture, ecofacts, cultural landscapes
*What is durable in your life that represents you as an individual? As a member of a culture or group?
CAN reveal: traces of events, stories, lives, entire cultures
CAN’T reveal: ephemeral (organic, biodegradable, breakable), ideas thoughts feelings
Primary sources
documentary such as literature (poems, plays, speeches, histories) kept in manuscripts, papyri, inscriptions
material culture: pots, buildings, bones, inscriptions
What is the 6 step process of an Archaeological Excavation?
1) Formulation – research questions (years)
- ex: is excavation necessary? what % of a site can you sample for meaningful data?
2) Implementation – what do you need to answer questions? how will you do it?
- methods: survey, remote sensing (instruments), aerial photography, excavation
3) Data acquisition – execution of plan (what combination of methods?)
4) Data processing & analysis – study of material found, matrix that produced them, landscape, historical/archival data & specialists crucial here (ex: ceramicists)
5) Interpretation – reconstruct picture of processes that creates the depositions that were excavated, research questions answered, other archaeologists draw conclusions from your data
6) Publication – combination of data and synthesis, public consumption
What are the pros and cons of excavation?
pros: see what is in the ground, touch it, possibly open location for public view, ‘rescue’, thrill of discovery
cons: destructive, expensive, slow, can you get right to the land?, storage of finds
*What is the solution to archaeology being destruction?
the publication & transparency of data
Who were Herodotus and Thucydides?
Earliest Greek historians that relied on the narratives of early Greece; studied Homer (flourished mid-8th cent.)
Prehistoric vs. Historic
Prehistoric, before written history
Historic, written history
What was the Parthenon at Athens?
- Temple to Athena Parthenos, 438 BCE – early 6th century AD
- converted to Christian Church (dedicated to Parthenos Maria)
- Was a mosque in Ottoman Empire (late 15th - late 17th cent.)
- exploded 1687
What was the Renaissance? The Grand Tour?
- rediscovery of Greek, Roman science, philosophy, art via texts
- Europe understands antiquity
- wealthy young people travel to see things, visit important people, continue education, purchased artifacts to furnish home, popularity to classical images/art
Who were James Stuart and Nicholas Revett?
Architects and technical map rulers who wrote Antiquities of Athens (1762)
*Who was JJ Winckelmann (1717-1786)
- German antiquarian
- wrote History of Art in Antiquity, 1764
**categorized & systemized the differences in artifacts from different cultures & time periods - **divided Greek art into 4 stages (archaic, early, & late classical, Hellenistic)
- significant starting point, although wrong
*What were objets d’art? Connoiseurship & William Hamilton?
- British Ambassador to Naples who created collection of decorated Greek Ceramics & published images
- led to new view of pots ‘vases’ as the objets d’art
- Europeans collecting
***Who was Heinrich Schliemann?
- German businessman, ploymath, amateur archaeologist
- **believed in historicity of ancient epics, specifically Homer’s
- massive trench at Hissarlik 1871, taking out portions of period he was looking for
- no sense of dating
What did Sophia Schliemann wear?
Jewels of Helen part of the Treasure of Priam
