SCOPE AND NATURE OF ARCHEOLOGICAL

ANTHROPOLOGY
NATURE AND SCOPE OF PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY
Anthropology is a broad discipline of humanity. It studies man and his activities starting from the
dim remote period to the present position. It has three main branches. According to Colin
Renfrew and Paul Bahn they are: 1) Physical anthropology ii) Cultural or Social Anthropology
and iii) Archaeology. Archaeology is again divided into three main sections and many sub-
sections.

Physical Anthropology studies man as a physical being. It is concern with human evolution,
human variation, genetics, demography and environment whereas Cultural or Social
Anthropology analyses human culture and society. Archaeology primarily concerns with the
study of antiquities. It has three smaller divisions/sections viz., Prehistoric Archaeology, Proto-
historic Archaeology and Historical Archaeology.
Pre-historic Archaeology studies man and his work before the existence of written records. It
tells us the history of a region, a country or nation, people or race before writing. It does not
depend on the accounts of contemporary or later writers. Hence it may also be defined as an
account of the illiterate or preliterate people or society. Historical Archaeology depends on
written records or documents. This studies the literate people and their works. Proto-historic
Archaeology bridges the gulf between the Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology.

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 PAPER 1, CHAPTER 1.8
DATING METHODS

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containers. As flaking techniques improved longer cutting edges were available to be made.
Improved hunting meant more meat available which contained more protein- lesser amounts of
food and time needed for eating enabled humans to survive the ice age.
To successfully hunt large animals, groups needed to develop improved co-operation and
communication skills.

Co-operative Hunting
Advantages:
allowed larger animals to be killed so more food is obtained for less effort
increased the range of food eaten which increases the range of nutrients taken in
improved the supply of food. If food is more available people stay healthier and
more children survive.
large animals supplied furs, sinews, bone so more useful items could be made e.g
shelters

Domestication of Plants and Animals

Domestication is the bringing in of an animal or plant under human control. It is believed that
domestication of animals occurred before plants because nomadic life was prevalent at that
stage. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog, occurring 12,000 years ago. Sheep and
goats were domesticated in the Middle East 9,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were
domesticated 10,000 years ago. It is believed that plant domestication occurred in two stages;
weeding out competing species from naturally growing wild cereals; collecting seeds and
growing them.
Advantages of domestication:
as a source of milk or hair, an animal may be more useful alive, providing a steady
income
organisms were killed or harvested at their optimum age- thus providing humans
with the most nutrients possible
a herd or flock is a "living larger"- meat on the hoof does not decay
when cattle were domesticated, they could be used to lift and carry
animals and crops became a source of wealth and could be traded
populations became settled and towns and cities developed. As a result;
Occupations developed to support food productiion e.g carpentry, clothing, art,
medicine; opened up new technological opportunities e.g pottery- to store food and
carry water, smelting.

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 further selective breeding occured e.g domestication of bees, use of yeasts for
bread and beer making, use of bacteria for cheese making

Disadvantages of domestication
thousands of years of selective breeding have altered the characteristics of
domesticated animals and plants to the extent that many breeds could not survive
without human intervention
selective breeding led to a decrease in gene pools of domesticated species
leading to the loss of some characteristics e.g hardiness and resistance to
disease. This may result in possible dangers in the future since raw material for
selection is being lost
the potato famine in Ireland shows the danger of monoculture in farming. One
disease wiped out the nation's potato supply- the nation's staple food supply at that
time. Thousands of people starved to death.
as a result of permanent settlements developing (which was only possible once
plants became domesticated), pollution became a problem
loss of soil fertility as repeated planting and harvesting removes soil nutrients e.g
nitrogen. Fertiliser/compost must be added to maintain soil fertility.
domestication of animals and plants encourages the formation and growth of
towns, therefore population density increases which increases disease

Implications of domestication
Domestication of plants and animals led to a greater availability of new food sources, both plant
and animal plus products thereof (such as milk for example). These nutritional benefits directly
result in higher survival rates of larger populations in a given area (towns). Furthermore,
domesticates provided the possibility of trade with other groups, increasing wealth, availability of
foreign or exotic items (possibly raw materials for tool manufacture etc) further driving cultural
evolution. The advent of professions and specialist roles in a society could then develop further.

Shelter
Caves and Temporary Settlements (hunter Gatherers)
Neanderthals lived during the Ice Age. They often took shelter from the ice, snow, and
otherwise unpleasant weather in Eurasia's plentiful limestone caves. Many of their fossils have
been found in caves, leading to the popular idea of them as "cave men". The earliest Homo
sapiens lived inside cave entrances while others-built huts in forested areas. Long houses made

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Resource in the Mesolithic, and it was used to construct dwellings and to manufacture boats,
canoes, and paddles. The earliest evidence of substantial carpentry dates from the Early
Mesolithic of Star Carr, where a wooden platform or track was constructed over the boggy
terrain between the site and the nearby lake; the earliest known dugout canoe comes
from Pesse in the Netherlands.

The first definitive evidence of the bow and arrow in Europe dates from the Mesolithic, and
wood was used for Mesolithic self bows and arrow shafts. The bow and arrow was an
important advancement in hunting technology. It was useful in a wide range of environmental
settings, including postglacial forests, and it allowed hunters to kill from a greater distance and
with more accurate targeting. Transverse arrow

Points were added to the tool kit later in the Mesolithic; they relied on a straight cutting edge to
produce a wide wound channel (Figure 4). The discovery of a number of Mesolithic composite
and transverse points lodged in the bones of game animals confirms their effectiveness as
hunting weapons.

Pottery and ground stone tools, considered hallmarks of the succeeding Neolithic stage, made
their first appearance in the Late Mesolithic. Ground stone was used to make axes and adzes,
as well as beads and figurines. Although never abundant, pottery was present in several Late
Mesolithic cultures, including the Campignian of northern France and the Erteb0lle of southern
Scandinavia. Mesolithic pottery was utilitarian and was used for cooking and food
storage. Erteb0lle vessels had thick walls and little or no decoration, and the most common
form had a pointed base. Small oval ceramic bowls may have been used as lamps.

SETTLEMENT

The Mesolithic pattern of resource diversification and resource intensification encouraged

population mobility, and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers moved regularly in an annual cycle called
a seasonal round, taking advantage of plants and animals during their peak abundance. For
this reason, it is necessary to examine regional settlement systems rather than individual sites.
Larger coastal sites often had a longer duration of habitation. Many of these larger settlements
were semisedentary or sedentary, and some, such as Erteb0lle and other Scandinavian sites,
were probably occupied year-round. Domestic structures were variable in form: round,
semicircular, oval, or rectangular. Houses had sunken floors, wooden post construction, and a
single central hearth, suggesting that they were occupied by a single family or small group.

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