Anth 130 Introduction to Archaeology
Dr. Darlene Applegate
Fall 2007
Lab 1: The Archaeological
Record
OBJECTIVES
- to distinguish between artifacts and ecofacts
- to evaluate the preservation potential of different materials
TERMS
- archaeological record
- artifact
- manuport
- ecofact
- paleoenvironment
- archaeological site
- geoarchaeology
- preservation
- organic / inorganic
- alloy
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
Archaeologists base their interpretations about past human behavior on
the archaeological record. Simply defined, the archaeological record is the
material remains of past human behavior, or the collection of artifacts
in a particular area studied by archaeologists. Using a more detailed
definition, the archaeological record is the incomplete but
more-or-less continuous distribution of artifacts in and on the earth’s
surface in a highly variable density. The archaeological record is
found nearly everywhere in at least low density scatters, though it is
concentrated in relatively high densities in some areas.
ARTIFACTS AND ECOFACTS
One key aspect of the definition of the archaeological record is
“artifacts.” Artifacts may be
considered the basic building block of the archaeological record.
Artifacts may be discrete cultural items, such as nails and stone
tools, or sets of meaningfully related cultural items.
More specifically, an artifact is any object that owes any of its
properties to human activity (Dunnell 1971). In many cases, artifacts
are objects that have been created or modified by humans, such that
their formal attributes – in
other words, their physical or chemical properties – are the result of
human activity. A knife blade made of bronze, which is a combination of
copper and tin ores, is a good example of an artifact created and
modified by humans. The chips of flint left over from making a spear
point also are artifacts because their shapes are the result of human
activity.
Other objects are considered artifacts because their spatial attributes – or, where they
are located in three-dimensional space – are the result of human
activity. A unaltered piece of volcanic glass or obsidian, for example,
that was acquired in present-day Wyoming and transported and deposited
in present-day Kentucky is an artifact because its location is the
result of human activity. A fallen tree that is moved by humans to span
a ravine also is considered an artifact because its location is the
result of human activity. Some archaeologists refer to these types of
objects as manuports.
Non-artifactual objects commonly are mixed with artifacts in the
archaeological record. Objects that do not have formal or spatial
attributes resulting from human activity are called ecofacts. (Some archaeologists do
not define ecofacts in this manner.) Rocks deposited by stream action,
bones of rodents that died in their burrows within an archaeological
site, and plant pollen that blows into an archaeological site are
examples of ecofacts.
Ecofacts often are helpful in reconstructing the paleoenvironmental (past
environmental) conditions at an archaeological
site, so they are of interest to archaeologists. It is
important, however, that ecofacts are not used to reconstruct past
human behavior because they do not result from human activity.
Therefore, it is critical that archaeologists are able to distinguish
artifacts from ecofacts. Less commonly are modified artifacts confused
with ecofacts. There is greater potential to confuse non-modified
artifacts or manuports with ecofacts. Information about the
environmental milieu of a site and the context of objects are used to
distinguish ecofacts and non-worked artifacts at an archaeological
site. Archaeologists often complete coursework in geology, geography,
biology, soil science, and other disciplines in order to make these
distinctions. Alternatively, they hire geoarchaeologists
and other scientists to consult in their research.
ARTIFACT PRESERVATION
Another key aspect of the definition of the archaeological record is
“incomplete.” Most objects created, modified, or transported by humans
in the past do not last long enough to become part of the
archaeological record, or they are lost from the archaeological record
after deposition. Further, not all past human activities are
represented by objects in the archaeological record.
Some artifacts are made of materials that are more likely to be
preserved in the archaeological record than artifacts made of other
materials. Materials that are durable are those that resist
decomposition by microbes, which includes many inorganic materials, and those that
resist weathering by natural agents, such as soil acids and water.
Materials that are less durable are those that do not resist
decomposition by microbes, which include most unaltered organic (living or formerly living)
materials, and those that do not resist weathering by natural agents.
Artifacts made of the following materials tend to preserve well in most
environments: lithics (rocks and minerals including coal), fossils
including petrified wood and amber (which would be classified as
manuports), baked or heated clay, glass, large and dense bones and
teeth, large and dense shell, burned wood and other plant material,
plant pollen, most metals, and cement and mortar. Artifacts made of the
following materials tend to preserve poorly and, therefore, are only
found in special environments like dry caves and permanently wet, cold,
or dry regions: unburned wood and other plant material including
basketry, small and porous bones, cartilage, animal soft tissues,
animal hides and furs, animal feathers, textiles and fabric, and paper.
ASSIGNMENT
Students may work in small groups in examining the items displayed in
the lab, but each student will complete his/her own answer sheet.
Answer sheets will be completed in pencil.
Artifacts versus Ecofacts
Examine the objects displayed in the lab and determine if
they are artifacts or ecofacts. Your decision will be based on the
context of the object, which is described on a card with each object,
and the known environmental characteristics of the site and its
environs, as described below.
If an object is determined to be an artifact, determine if it is a
modified item or a manuport. Your decision will be based on examination
of the object to determine if it has been worked by humans in any
manner. Worked objects often have non-natural shapes and non-weathered
surfaces, or they are made of non-natural materials like glass or metal
alloys. (A metal alloy is a
combination of two or more metal ores. Bronze, for example, is an alloy
of copper and tin.)
Assume the objects were recovered from an archaeological site with the
following characteristics. Assume, further, that the current
environment does not differ significantly from the paleoenvironment
when the archaeological site was first occupied.
- In terms of the natural
environment, the site is located on a low
knoll in the floodplain of the Barren River in eastern Warren County,
Kentucky.
- The bedrock
underlying the soil is composed of two
interbedded sedimentary rocks: limestone (gray, fine-grained, may
contain fossils) and sandstone (tan or brown, cemented sand particles).
- The soil on
the knoll and blanketing the surrounding floodplain is
thick (up to thirty feet) sequences of well-sorted clays and silts with
particle sizes smaller than sand grains. None of the clay deposits was
suitable for pottery manufacture. The fine-grained soils contain small
pebbles of sandstone and limestone less than five cm (two inches) in
diameter.
- The original plants
growing on the knoll and surrounding
floodplain are wild grasses as well as willow, sycamore, poplar, tulip,
and elm. For the past two centuries, the plants growing on the knoll
and surrounding floodplain are domesticated crops including corn,
beans, and winter wheat.
- Wild animals
in the area are freshwater
mussels and catfish in the Barren River, deer that migrate through the
area, small mammals (beaver, fox, squirrel, raccoon, opossum, rabbit,
mice, rats, moles), non-aquatic birds (pigeon, wrens, starlings, jays,
woodpeckers), reptiles (box turtle, rat snake, skinks), and amphibians
(toads). For the past two centuries, domesticated livestock (cow,
horse) were raised in the area.
- In terms of the cultural context,
the site was occupied by two groups of people during two time periods.
- The site was used by American
Indians in
prehistoric times as a temporary habitation site (a small camp). These
earliest inhabitants hunted and gathered wild food resources from the
river and the floodplain. They manufactured stone tools from chert,
flint, sandstone, and limestone; they made pottery vessels and smoking
pipes from clay. They lived on the floodplain primarily during the warm
seasons of the year.
- More recently, the site was used by Euro-American
settlers, who planted crops in the floodplain, grazed livestock
in
fallow fields, and erected a small farm building on the knoll.
Note that the remains of domesticated plants and animals are, by
definition, artifacts. The form of a domesticated species is the result
of human intervention in the breeding process, so domesticates are
modified artifacts.
Artifact Preservation
Examine the second set of objects and, using the comparative materials
provided in the lab, determine the type of material comprising each
object. use the following classes of materials:
- lithic (natural rocks and minerals)
- clay (a specific class of minerals used to manufacture pottery
vessels, bricks, tiles, drainage pipes, etc.)
- metal (a specific class of minerals and human-made alloys)
- glass (human-made silica-based material)
- floral (wood, seeds, leaves, roots of plants)
- bone (hard tissue of vertebrate animals)
- shell (hard tissue of some invertebrate animals)
- fossil (mineralized remains of past life forms)
Assuming the
objects are deposited in the site described above, indicate if each
object is likely to preserve or not likely to preserve after centuries
of being deposited with the site stratigraphy.
REFERENCE
Dunnell, Robert C.
1971 Systematics in Prehistory. Free Press, New York.
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