Thea Kinsela Project Officer Young Archaeologists’ Program

42 Pages·2013·1.41 MB·English

by  Alethea Kinsela

30/07/2013
Teaching depth studies in Ancient World History
Thea Kinsela
Project Officer
Young Archaeologists’ Program
La Trobe University
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 High school teaching, university lecturing,
research and contract experience
 Archaeology field experience:
 Western Sydney –Year 10 work experience
 Port Arthur –2011
 Czech Republic –2012
 Australia –2011-ongoing
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
1. Clarify important historical and
archaeological terms of reference
2. Define ‘Ancient Australia’
3. Cover critical points in the ‘Ancient Australia’
timeline
4. Discuss ways to approach the topic ‘Ancient
Australia’ in the classroom
5. Examine some stone tools
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 The study of the
human past using
scientific analysis of
material remains
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 What?
 Where?
 When?
 Who?
 Why?
 How?
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
 Sites  Tools
 Surveys  Food remains
 Excavations  Other disciplines
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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Anthropology
Palaeontology Geology
Ecology History
Archaeology
Art history Geography
Biology Palaeoclimatology
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
But is it possible to define the
‘history’ of Ancient Australia?
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 A record or account
of past events
 All that is preserved
or remembered of
the past
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
Challenges from a ‘Western’ perspective:
 No written records
 No visible architecture or infrastructure
 Historical sources often biased
Approaches:
 Evidence
 Theory
 Interpretation
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 What is it?
 Where did it start?
 When did it start?
 Who came here?
 Why did they come?
 How do we know?
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
Stratigraphy and Artefact types and style
contextual data
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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 Measures the rate of decay in the unstable,
radioactive isotope C14 to determine the age
of organic matter
 Only reliable for dates younger than about
40,000BP
 Dates charcoal
and bone
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
45
40
35
O
G
A30
S
R
A
EY25
F
O
S
D20
N
A
S
UO15
H
T
10
5
0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1990 2000 2010
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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1. Electron spin resonance (ESR)
2. Thermoluminescence (TL)
3. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)
 Often used in conjunction with radiocarbon
dating to ensure accuracy of age-estimates
 Often used when radiocarbon dates are not
able to be determined
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
 Measures the number of trapped electrons in
enamel since the time of burial
 Dates teeth
(c) Alethea Kinsela 2013. All rights reserved.
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