History of archaeology

History of archaeology

1. History of Archaeology
•The first archaeologists
–Antiquarians or wealthy collectors
of artifacts
•Early Archaeology
–It was a combination of several
other sciences concerned with the
evolution of man.
•1817
–Danish archaeologist Christian
Jurgensen Thomsen opened the
National Museum of Antiquities in
Copenhagen to the public.
•1859 Origin of Species.
–Darwin publishes his book.
•1920’s
–Archaeology became a fully
fledged scientific discipline.
Christian Jurgensen Thomsen
Charles
Darwin

2. Modern Scientific Archaeology
1960’s
•The invention of modern
scientific excavation techniques
•Using a multidisciplinary
approach to study people.
•Increasing impact of science on
archaeology
•Refinement of archaeological
theory.
Dendrochronology
Botany
DNA

3. Culture: Any learned behavior that is shared with others.

4. Culture:
•Culture is a theoretical concept to
describe humankind’s external
adaptation
–to natural environment.
–A set of designs for living in different
situations
•In Archaeology a culture is an
assemblage of artefacts found at several
sites and defined in a precise context of
time and space

5. Types of organization
•Band
•Tribe
•Chiefdom
•State

6. Types of organization
Band:
–a local group
–little or no specialization in
political structure
–Hunting-gathering subsistence
–Small, egalitarian communities

7. Types of organization
Tribe:
•Sometimes multi-local political
orgs.
•Little or no specialization of
political officials
•Extensive and shifting
hunting/gathering, agriculture, or
herding (domesticated/wild)
•Small, low density communities
•Egalitarian
•Reciprocity

8. Types of organization
Chiefdom:
•Multi-local political org.
•Some specialized political officials
•Extensive agriculture and/or herding
•Large communities w/ medium density
•Ranked societies
•Both reciprocity and redistribution

9. Types of organization
States:
•Multi-local political org. by language
group
•many specialized political officials
•Intensive agriculture and/or herding
•Large communities in towns or cities w/
high density
•Class societies (castes)
•Market exchanges

11. STEP 1
STEP 4
STEP 3
STEP 2
Archaeological Data Acquisition and Evaluation
Elaboration and Analysis
Simulating Processes
Reconstruction
Scientific explanatory process

17. •The history of
archaeological method
is of a discipline
which has used
sophisticated
technologies in the
search for and
understanding of
archaeological sites.

18. Timber Castle
Roman villa
Temple or roman villa Necropoli
Hillfort
Roman villa
Roman villa

19. Field walking survey Grid collection (phisical and virtual)
GPS position of
specific surface
findings and field
data integration
Mapping the path of
surveyed areas,
etc…

20. DEM generated from
The DGPS survey of the area
Draping of the oblique
Draping of the grad s.
Draping of the interpratation

26. Urban Stratigraphy of Modena

28. Territory
TIME
Population
Resources

32. Archaeology as science
•Scientific method including identification of
research problem, theoretical basis for
research, hypotheses, test implications,
confirmation, testability, explanation.
•Science involves rigorous analysis of a fair
test of alternative explanations using specific
criteria; explanations are confirmed by
multiple lines of evidence.
•Archaeology seeks to understand social or
culture behavior through a scientific method.

34. fase finale della Media età del Bronzo (1450 a.C.)

35. Redù
Rastellino
Gaggio
S. Agata
Pradella
??

42. Examples of:
•THEMATIC MAPS
• SPATIAL and STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
• MODELING
MODELLING / PREDICTION / DECISION MAKING