Week 2 Part 1 Flashcards
How does archaeology define a site?
A cluster of material that yields evidence about human behaviour
What is ONE WEIRD TRICK to identifying a subsurface (buried) deposit? And what’s the normal way?
Unnatural landform changes
Normal: Cultural material
Name 5 survey methods
- Aerial photography
- Field survey
- Subsurface probing / shovel pits
- Geophysical techniques that can detect anomalies in electrical properties
- Ground pentrating radar
What is the function of aerial photography?
Provides a persoective from above that can therefore show variations in the landscape difficult to see from the ground e.g height variation, colour variation
What is a positive crop mark or negative depression?
Positive crop mark: A positive or greater height of vegetation at a certain point indicating anomalies in the subsurface
Negative depression: A negative or a depression in vegetation height at a certain point indicating anomalies in the surface.
Why are field surveys so fundamental?
- Allows smaller artefacts to be located that aerial surveys do not
- The nature and abundance of cultural material can be assessed, including the possibility of archaeological material below
How do you do a field survey?
- Almost never total coverage, instead using a sampling strategy
You can choose from…
- Probability sampling (random)
- Systematic sampling
What is the biggest difficulty with survey units
It’s so damn difficult to locate them in the bush! So Faulkers often uses a fence.
Tell me 2 types of survey units
Transects (rectangles) and squares
How do we judge surface survey intensity? What 2 factors?
Survey intensity: portion of ground surface studied of the site, determined by the intervals between surveyors
Survey speed: amount of time given area can be studied
Most surveys are medium intensity due to time constraints
What are sub surface probing and shovel pits? What are the problems associated?
Subsurface probing: Think the big needle thing
Shovel pits: As the name suggests
Problems:
- Can blur the distinction between layers of the deposit
- Knocks material in the deposit
How do geogohysical techniques that detect anomalies in electrical properties work?
Ferrous objects will change the soil’s magnetic properties
Hearths can also change magnetic properties as well
How does Ground Penetrating Radar work?
Works using the echo sounding principle
Key takeaway from studying the various techniques?
- Specific methods produce different results
- You need to select the appropriate methods for the appropriate questions
