Archaeology for Dummies (ISBN - 047033732X) PDF
Preview Archaeology for Dummies (ISBN - 047033732X)
by Nancy Marie White Archaeology FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_337325-ffirs.indd i 01_337325-ffirs.indd i 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM 01_337325-ffirs.indd ii 01_337325-ffirs.indd ii 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM by Nancy Marie White Archaeology FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_337325-ffirs.indd i 01_337325-ffirs.indd i 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM Archaeology For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008935270 ISBN: 978-0-470-33732-5 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_337325-ffirs.indd ii 01_337325-ffirs.indd ii 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM 8/29/08 2:30:28 PM About the Author Being an archaeologist was something Nancy Marie White wanted to do from the time she learned how to spell the word as a kid. She was interested in Native American cultures, outdoor adventure, and the romance of finding ancient things and lost knowledge. After earning a BA in history, she went to live in Mexico, where she saw that studying archaeology and the rest of anthropology would lead to a fascinating life. She earned a PhD from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (home of rock and roll), and is now professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and a long-time member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists. White’s research includes finding and sometimes excavating sites of all time periods. She’s currently studying how late prehistoric agricultural societies in the U.S. Southeast became complex and why they had no beer. She also investigates campsites, villages, and mounds of earlier Native American hunter-gatherers, fishers, and gardeners, and lost towns and forts inhabited by historic Indians, European-Americans, and African-Americans. Her one kid, Tony, spent an entire childhood camping in the woods and digging, and now studies engineering. White tries to travel often in order to go somewhere dif- ferent to visit archaeology. She really believes in public archaeology and the potential of the distant past to show us a lot that might be useful in the mod- ern world. 01_337325-ffirs.indd iii 01_337325-ffirs.indd iii 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM Author’s Acknowledgments Thanks are due to many people who helped with this book in different ways. Archaeologists Lee Hutchinson and Jeff Du Vernay read the manuscript and offered great comments. Malaysian social scientist Cheng Sim Hew asked good questions about archaeology’s value to society. Help with figures, text, ideas, and details came from Robbie Baer, Bill Bingham, Susan Harp, Ned Jenkins, Roy Larick, Erin Kimmerle, Rochelle Marrinan, Erin Murtha-Celii, John O’Hear, Rob Tykot, and Rich Weinstein. Wiley editors Michael Lewis, Megan Knoll, and Tim Gallan are superb. Offspring Anthony Orlando White and parent Adela Dodero White read and commented upon everything and provided constant encouragement and laughs. Thanks also to all archaeologists and other scientists whose work I’ve described here; I apologize for not being able to cite you by name. I realize I’ve taken on a huge responsibility in representing the entirety of the archae- ological profession and the specific work of thousands of colleagues around the world in a single (and, I’m hoping, user-friendly) volume. Perhaps readers will let me know about any errors. After all, archaeology is a continual pro- cess of finding out new information about old things! 01_337325-ffirs.indd iv 01_337325-ffirs.indd iv 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Senior Project Editor: Tim Gallan Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis Copy Editor: Megan Knoll Assistant Editor: Erin Calligan Mooney Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South Technical Editor: Lee Hutchinson Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Editorial Assistants: Joe Niesen, Jennette ElNaggar, David Lutton Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond Layout and Graphics: Reuben W. Davis, Melissa K. Jester, Christin Swinford, Christine Williams Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Caitie Kelly, Penny Stuart Indexer: WordCo Indexing Services Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 01_337325-ffirs.indd v 01_337325-ffirs.indd v 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM 8/29/08 2:30:29 PM Contents at a Glance Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Par t I: Archaeology: Seeing Past People Today ......................................................7 Chapter 1: What Archaeology Is ......................................................................................9 Chapter 2: What Archaeology Isn’t and Why That’s Important .................................23 Chapter 3: So You Want to Do Archaeology? What Kind? ..........................................33 Chapter 4: How Archaeologists Think and Work.........................................................53 Par t II: Archaeological Fieldwork: The Adventure Begins! .................................65 Chapter 5: Supplies and Equipment You Need ............................................................67 Chapter 6: Archaeological Survey: Finding Where to Dig ...........................................75 Chapter 7: The Archaeological Dig ................................................................................95 Chapter 8: Laws, Ethics, and Safety in Field Archaeology ........................................121 Par t III: After the Dig: You’ve Only Just Begun ..................................................133 Chapter 9: Processing Excavated Materials in the Laboratory ...............................135 Chapter 10: Studying and Analyzing What You’ve Excavated .................................151 Chapter 11: Reconstructing the Past: Piecing Together the Puzzles ......................171 Par t IV: Archaeology Reconstructs the Whole Human Past...............................193 Chapter 12: Early Humans: Original Cave Guys & Gals .............................................195 Chapter 13: The Last 10,000 Years: Climate Change and Early Food Production ........................................................................................211 Chapter 14: Ancient States ...........................................................................................235 Chapter 15: Historic Archaeology: Reinterpreting the More Recent Past ..............259 Par t V: Archaeology Is for Everyone ...................................................................279 Chapter 16: The Uses of Archaeological Findings .....................................................281 Chapter 17: How You Can Explore Archaeology .......................................................297 Chapter 18: Controversies and Sensational Findings................................................307 Par t VI: The Par t of Tens ......................................................................................327 Chapter 19: Ten-Plus Archaeological Places to Visit in the U.S. ..............................329 Chapter 20: More Than Ten Archaeological Sites to Visit Outside the United States .............................................................................335 Chapter 21: Ten Fun Archaeological Experiences .....................................................343 Appendix ...............................................................................................................347 Index ......................................................................................................................355 02_337325-ftoc.indd vi 02_337325-ftoc.indd vi 8/29/08 3:58:25 PM 8/29/08 3:58:25 PM Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................. 1 About This Book ..............................................................................................1 Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2 Archaeology versus archeology ..........................................................2 Dates ........................................................................................................2 Measurements ........................................................................................3 Anthropology .........................................................................................3 What you’re not to read ........................................................................3 My Assumptions ..............................................................................................3 How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................4 Part I: Archaeology: Seeing Past People Today .................................4 Part II: Archaeological Fieldwork: The Adventure Begins! ...............4 Part III: After the Dig: You’ve Only Just Begun ...................................5 Part IV: Archaeology Reconstructs the Whole Human Past .............5 Part V: Archaeology Is for Everyone ...................................................5 Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................5 Icons Used in the Book ...................................................................................6 Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................6 Par t I: Archaeology: Seeing Past People Today ............... 7 Chapter 1: What Archaeology Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 So What Is Archaeology Anyway? .................................................................9 The method: It’s detective work ........................................................10 The goal: Understand people .............................................................11 The Nature of Archaeological Evidence .....................................................11 Artifacts .................................................................................................12 Ecofacts .................................................................................................12 Features .................................................................................................12 Sites .......................................................................................................12 How Archaeological Sites Form ...................................................................13 Cultural processes ...............................................................................13 Natural processes ................................................................................14 How Archaeology Became a Modern Science ............................................15 Early diggers .........................................................................................15 Nineteenth-century archaeology .......................................................16 The early 20th century: Fabulous finds and academic advances ...18 New archaeology of the mid-20th century........................................20 Late 20th-century archaeology ..........................................................20 Modern 21st-century archaeology ....................................................20 Archaeology in the field ......................................................................21 Archaeology in the lab ........................................................................21 02_337325-ftoc.indd vii 02_337325-ftoc.indd vii 8/29/08 3:58:26 PM 8/29/08 3:58:26 PM Archaeology For Dummies viii Archaeology’s human story................................................................22 Archaeology in the public sphere......................................................22 Chapter 2: What Archaeology Isn’t and Why That’s Important . . . . . .23 Dinosaurs, Fossils, and Rocks: Not What Archaeology Is About ............23 Some fossils but no dinos ...................................................................24 Understanding how rock studies aid archaeology ..........................24 Hollywood Stereotypes: Time for a Dose of Reality ..................................25 The real archaeologists versus the movie heroes ...........................25 Real past people versus movie savages with dinosaurs.................26 Treasure Hunting and Looting: Not the Goals of Archaeology ................26 Early archaeology and looting: The Elgin marbles ..........................27 Give a hoot: Don’t loot (or trade in antiquities) ..............................28 Archaeologists Aren’t Always Digging ........................................................29 Archaeology Isn’t Necessarily Exotic; It’s Real Work ...............................30 Archaeology is about people ..............................................................30 A case study: Archaeology of modern garbage ...............................31 Chapter 3: So You Want to Do Archaeology? What Kind? . . . . . . . . . .33 Archaeology as Anthropology .....................................................................33 The Scientific and the Humanistic in Archaeology ...................................34 Different Fields for a Plethora of Purposes and Places ............................35 Regional specialties: Digging in one place ........................................35 Temporal specialties: Digging within one time period ...................36 Expertise in specific artifacts or site types ......................................37 Archaeological Specialties by Setting, Goals, and Techniques ...............39 Prehistoric and historic archaeology ................................................39 Underwater archaeology: Difficult and expensive ...........................41 Classical archaeology: All those statues! ..........................................42 Forensic archaeology ..........................................................................43 Historic preservation, heritage, and community archaeology ......44 Cultural resources management (CRM) and contract archaeology ...............................................................45 Museum archaeology and collections management .......................48 Avocational and educational archaeology .......................................49 Other kinds of archaeology ................................................................49 Special Studies Related to Archaeology .....................................................51 Zooarchaeology: Animal remains ......................................................51 Paleoethnobotany: Plant remains ......................................................51 Archaeometry: Archaeological sciences ..........................................51 What Kind of Archaeology Do You Want to Do? .......................................52 Chapter 4: How Archaeologists Think and Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 How an Archaeological Investigation Begins .............................................54 Determining your research goals ......................................................54 Coming up with a research design ....................................................55 Planning the archaeological project ..................................................55 02_337325-ftoc.indd viii 02_337325-ftoc.indd viii 8/29/08 3:58:26 PM 8/29/08 3:58:26 PM
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