Anth 106 PPT Lecture 2 Summary of and Su

Introduction to Archaeology: Spring 2023
Renfrew & Bahn 2019 (8th ed.): chp.1
Lect.-2: Introduction. Nature & aims …

The Searchers: History of Archaeology.
© Notes & images compiled by Gregory Mumford (2023)
Contents: Spring 2023
A. Nature and aims of archaeology 3
1. Introduction 5
2. Archaeology as anthropology 10
3. Archaeology as history 11
4. Archaeology as science 13
5. Variety & scope of archaeology 14
6. Aims and questions 16
B. The searchers: the history of archaeology 20
1. Introduction 21
2. The speculative stage 23
3. The first excavations 25
4. The beginnings of modern archaeology 29
The antiquity of humankind 30
The concept of evolution 31
The three age system 32
Ethnography and archaeology 33
Discovering early civilizations 36
Contents: Spring 2023
5. Classification and consolidation 44
Ecological approach 52
Rise of archaeological science 53
6. Turning point in archaeology 56

Birth of “New Archaeology” 57
7. World Archaeology 59
Search for origins 60
Archaeology of continents (diff. civilizations/cultures) 61
The living past 62
Who are the searchers 63
The beginning of the new millennium 64
The widening field: globalization 66
8. Summary 69
Instructor tips for lectures, etc.:
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→ Many clarifications, tips, announcements,
reinforcement & reviews of materials/concepts.
(2). Take notes on lectures, etc. …

→ The act of writing down notes, even with
most course materials and instructions online,
serves as an invaluable aid to one focusing on
a class topic and retaining information better.
https://howtostudyincollege.com/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/
(3). Complete the required textbook
readings, and/or review the ppt.,
prior to the specific class day …
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comprehension of the material, and will enable
asking focused questions where something
may be less clear (in the textbook or lecture).
(4). Ask questions during the class if

you are confused/wish more data
→ The class is an ideal place to ask for more
clarity or further information not contained in
the textbook, ppt., and/or lecture (If nobody
asks questions, the lecture proceeds …).
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→ Additional reinforcement, studying & bonus?
Introduction to Archaeology: Renfrew & Bahn 2019 (8th ed.): chp.1
0. Introduction: The nature & aims of archaeology …
1. Introduction:
• Recovery of past “treasures”
i.e., = (artifacts) and data.
• Meticulous scientific analysis
• Many regions, cultures, periods
• Many types of fieldwork:
- Underwater (Ulu Burun shipwreck)
- Glaciers (e.g., Ice man)
- Desert sand (e.g., Dakhleh Oasis)
- Alluvial plains (e.g., Mendes, Egypt)
- Peat bogs (e.g., Lindow man)
- Mountainous regions (e.g., Inca)
- etc.
• Inter-seasonal laboratory analysis
The different ancient-modern
and research
environments
• Extreme popularized dictate differing
views:
approaches
- Indiana Jones to excavation,
• Some political
recording, conservation,
agendas: etc.,
…Nazi plusarchaeology
varying past(Aryan supremacy)
lifeways.
0. Introduction: nature & aims of archaeology.
1. Introduction:
(artifacts) and data.
- etc.
and research
environments
• Extreme popularizeddictate differing
views:
approaches
- Indiana Jonesto excavation,
• Some political
agendas: etc.,
…Naziplusarchaeology
varying past(Aryan supremacy)
lifeways.
1. Introduction:
- etc.
and research
environments
• Extreme popularizeddictate differing
views:
approaches
- Indiana Jonesto excavation,
• Some political
agendas: etc.,
…Naziplusarchaeology
varying past lifeways.
(Aryan supremacy)
1. Introduction:
• Recoveryexcavation/survey
Between of past “treasures”
seasons:
→ Processing materials
→ Analyzing
• Many types ofsamples
fieldwork:
→- Underwater
Researching (Ulu&Burun
interpreting
shipwreck)
results (Ice man)
- Glaciers
→- Desert
Writingsandup (Dakhleh
findingsOasis)
→- Alluvial plains (Mendes, Egypt)
Submitting & publishing finds
- Peat bogs (Lindow man)
→- Mountainous
Re-assessing date(Inca)
regions based on
new data …
- etc.
and research
• Extreme popularized
Archaeology entails many
views:& var.
- Indiana Jones
specialists, much work, long
• Some political agendas:
periods of processing, analysis,
Nazi archaeology (Aryan supremacy)
research and publication …
1. Introduction:
Other influences
(artifacts) and data. upon &
•driving
Meticulousforces behind
scientific some
analysis
•Fields of archaeology
Many regions, ...
cultures, periods
•and/or
Many types of fieldwork:
different perceptions
&- Underwater (Ulu Burun shipwreck)
interpretations of
- Glaciers (Ice man)
archaeology & the past
- Desert sand (Dakhleh Oasis)…
- Alluvial plains (Mendes, Egypt)
- Peat bogs (Lindow man)
- Mountainous regions (Inca)
- etc.
and research
• Extreme popularized views:
- Indiana Jones
• Some political agendas:
Nazi archaeology (Aryan supremacy)
2. Archaeology as anthropology:
• Anthropology studies humanity
- From animal traits (primates) →
culture (one thing “defining” humans)
• Culture:
- Tylor 1871 def.: knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, customs, etc.
- Anthropology: each culture has
non-biological traits(=signature features)
• Anthropology: 3+ major fields
- 1. Biological (physical) anthropology:
nature & evolution of human physiology
- 2. Cultural (social) anthropology:
Human culture & society
Focus on living cultures
- 3. Archaeology:
Past human cultures & societies
Focus on material remains
Uses ethnoarchaeology → meaning. i.e., comparing past with living cultures
Heritage studies (conservation). (4). Linguistic anthropology …
3. Archaeology as history:
• = A field of anthropology & history
• = 3 million year history of humanity
• 99% relies solely on archaeology
(i.e.>artifacts; ecofacts; some biology)
• History of some cultures = 3000+ BC
E.g., Egypt & Mesopotamia.
• History of other cultures = 1788+ AD
E.g., Australia (i.e., European settlers)
• “Prehistory”= pre-writing(non literate)
E.g., Australian aborigines (non judgemental)
• Oral tradition can be quite accurate
(transmitting info by memorization)
• History = written evidence
• Archaeology & history work together
4. Archaeology as science:
• Studies humanity → humanistic
discipline.
• Uses inscriptions (history) whenever

possible.
• BUT, = also like a science:

- interprets evidence (artifacts etc.)
- Collects data
- Hypothesizes (explaining data)
- Testing theories (more data)
- → model (summarizes data pattern)
= BOTH a humanity & science.

5. Variety & scope of archaeology:
• Many types of archaeology & archaeologists
• Using similar methods & approaches
• Different specialists:
- Various time periods
- Various regions & cultures
- Sub-fields (e.g., pottery)
- Increasing study areas: e.g.,
recent history.
• Cross-specializations:
- Environmental archaeology
(plants & animals; human adaptations)
- Underwater archaeology
- Ethnoarchaeology (formation process)
(extrapolate modern data →apply to past)
- Contemporary material culture
(styles; forensic science; garbage)
5. Variety & scope of archaeology: Artifacts applied
• Many types of archaeology
in contemporary art
• Using similar methods & approaches
• Different specialists
- Various time periods
- Various regions & cultures
- Sub-fields (e.g., pottery)
- Increasing study areas: e.g.,
recent history.
• Cross-specializations:
- Environmental archaeology
(plants & animals; human adaptations)
- Underwater archaeology
- Ethnoarchaeology (formation process)
(extrapolate modern data → apply to past)
- Contemporary material culture
(styles; forensic science; garbage)
6. Aims & questions:
Archaeology . . .
• Aim = discovering humanity’s past
- Traditionally: reconstructing past “puzzle”
- Now: also reconstructing recent “puzzle” +!
• Studying “lifeways” of people:
Sea Peoples 1200 BC
- Daily life
- Environmental interactions
- Determining WHY / HOW . . .
regarding lifestyle & culture
• Shift to processual archaeology
- Explaining change → studying
processes of cultural change.
- Forms questions → get answers
• Post-processual / interpretive archaeology:
- Assesses symbolic & cognitive components
in past societies. Recog. greater complexity
- Now diverse goals: E.g., ethnic groups; agency
• Initial aims answering Big Questions:
- Our beginnings (Africa?)
- Were early humans …

Hunters ? versus scavengers ?
- Evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens
- How/why did art appear
- How/why = shift to agriculture
- How/why did cities appear
- How are identities formed

(i.e., individuals versus groups)
- Etc.
7. Plan of the book:
Follows a series of questions &
answers:
1. History of archaeology
2. Material preservation (how?)
3. Material recovery (how?)
4. Material dating (how?)
-----------------------------------------------
5. Social organization
6. Environment
7. Subsistence
8. Technology
9. Trade & exchange
10.Ideas & communication
11.Physical attributes
12.Processes of change
-----------------------------------------------
13. 5 case studies in archaeology
14+Public archaeology
(e.g., who owns the past?)
7. Plan of the book:
Follows a series of questions &
answers:
15. The future of the Past …
How to manage the heritage.
16. The New Searchers …
Building a career in archaeology
Note: Chp. 16 dropped …
Renfrew and Bahn
2019 (8th. Ed.)
Chapter 1:
The Searchers
The History of Archaeology
1. The Searchers: The History of Archaeology.
1. Introduction:
• Common perceptions:
- History of arch. = “great discoveries”
E.g., Tutankhamun
Lascaux cave paintings
• There = also changing attitudes &
research methods
• 1850 AD: Westerners believed
- world = created in 4004 BC (Bible)
- Only surviving data = from Egypt,
Near East, & Greece (regarding
pre-classical civilizations).
• Today: archaeologists = developed
- “better”/right questions
- “better”/right methods
• Maximizing recovery of arch. data
from Prehistoric-historical cultures
• Ethnocentric interpretations:
Each view of the past reflects the
searcher’s time period, culture, etc.
Evolution of archaeology:
- New findings → more data
- Learning to ask the
“right questions,”
- Implementing more of the
“right methods,”
2.1. The Speculative Phase: Intro.
• Most cultures have foundation myths
- 800 BC Hesiod: 5 stages of humanity
= Age of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Epic of
Heroes, and Iron (& Dread Sorrow)
(life progresses from ease to hardship)
• Explaining prior cultures:
- Aztecs linked themselves with
the Toltecs & Teotihuacan and
collected sacred relics (stone masks)
- Nabonidus of Babylon (555-539 BC)
excavated & had a “museum”
- European Renaissance (14th-17th cent)
Curio cabinets for artifacts
Scholars studying classical past
local past
Debunking local legends
Pitt-Rivers museum
(e.g., William Stukeley 1687-1765 AD) (Oxford, UK)
Some early scholars made accurate plans & careful studies:
E.g., William Stukeley (1687 - 1765):
Demonstrated that megalithic monuments = not made by giants, devils, etc
2.2. The First Excavations:
• 18th cent AD excavating major sites:
- Italy: Pompeii (1748).
- Peru: Huaca de Tantalluc (1765).
- USA: Burial mound in Virginia (1784)
(excav. by Thomas Jefferson)
→ Virginia mound:
-100s of mounds E. of Mississippi river
- Believed to be built by vanished race
- Jefferson excav. Scientifically (FIRST)
- Found multiple layers & bones
- Tested ideas against data
- Promoted builders’ indigenous origins
- Early 1800s: Richard Cole Hoare
excavated 100s of burial mounds in UK
He developed a typology of mounds.
1748 →
1806+ excavations
2.2. The First Excavations:
• 18th cent AD excavating major sites:
- Italy: Pompeii (1748).
- Peru: Huaca de Tantalluc (1765).
- USA: Burial mound in Virginia (1784)
(excav. by Thomas Jefferson)
→ Virginia mound (e.g., 1784+):
-100s of mounds E. of Mississippi river
- Believed to be built by “vanished race”
- Jefferson excav. scientifically (FIRST)
- Found multiple layers & bones
- Tested ideas against the data
- Promoted builders’ indigenous origins
- Early 1800s: Richard Cole Hoare
excavated 100s of burial mounds in UK
He developed a typology of mounds.
Dickeson’s mound excavation
The First Excavations:
E.g., Richard Hoare & William Cunnington excavate north of Stonehenge: 1805
3.1. The Beginnings of
Modern Archaeology:
Introduction:
• 1850s: archaeology being established
as a field.
• Archaeology is influenced by:
- James Hutton 1785. Theory of the Earth

On-going processes in seas, rivers, lakes
Principle of “uniformitarianism”
- Charles Lyell 1833. Principles of Geology

Linked past & present conditions
Ideas applied to human past.
3.2. The Antiquity of humankind:
• 1841: Jacques Boucher de Perthes

established humanity’s antiquity:
- Human hand-axes found alongside
extinct animals near Somme River.
- He argued a date long before the

Biblical Flood: i.e., +pre- “4004 BC”
- (1859: agreement by British scholars)
- Many scholars discarded “biblical

views” on the World’s Creation: 4004bc
• 1865: John Lubbock’s Prehistoric Times

introduced key concept of “Prehistory”
3.3. The Concept of Evolution:
• 1859: Charles Darwin published
The Origin of Species.
• It argues that evolution explains

origin and development of all flora
and fauna via “natural selection”.
• 1871: Charles Darwin published

The Descent of Man.
• He argues the human species

evolved via natural selection.
= Profound influences upon
approaches and concepts
in archaeology:
i.e., How we viewed our past
and changes over time …
3.4. The Three Age System:
• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen
suggested artifacts from Danish
barrows displayed 3 Ages:
Stone, Bronze, & Iron Ages.
→ system = adopted in Europe.
The Stone
• Later: “threeAge
age→ system”
“old” & “new”
= Paleolithic and Neolithic.
• This system was less applicable
outside Europe
• Remains a key class. system
• Conceptual advances:
- 1. Antiquity of humankind
- 2. Principle of evolution
- 3. Three-Age system
• → Other scholars → typologies:
- Oscar Montelius: fibulae
- John Evans: coins
3.4. The Three Age System: STONE
• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen AGE
→ system = adopted in Europe. BRONZE
• Later: Stone Age → “old” & “new” AGE
outside Europe
- 3. Three-Age system IRON
• → Other scholars → typologies: AGE
- Oscar Montelius: fibulae
- John Evans: coins
3.4. The Three Age System:
• 1836/1848 AD: C.J. Thomsen
→ system = adopted in Europe.
Evolution
• Later: of typologies
Stone Age …
→ “old” & “new”
outside Europe
https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue50/14/index.html
- 3. Three-Age system
• → Other scholars → typologies:
- Oscar Montelius: fibulae i.e., changes in fashion
- John Evans: coins
3.5. Ethnography & Archaeology:
• Ethnographic studies of living cultures
applied to aid interpreting past cultures
i.e., similar simple tools & industries
E.g., Studies of North American Indian

tattooing helped to assess Celtic tattooing.
*NEEDS CAUTION!!! Diff. time & peoples
• Ethnographers & anthropologists

suggested models for human progress:
1870s: Taylor & Morgan argued 3 stages:

1. Savagery (hunting)
2. Barbarism (simple farming)
3. Civilization (highest societal form)
→ Influenced - Marx & Engels

- Marxist archaeologists
3.6. Discovering Early
Civilizations:
• By 1800s, conceptual basis for
modern archaeology = initiated.
• Discoveries in Old & New Worlds

honed these ideas.
EGYPT:
• 1798-1800 Napoleonic expedition
found Rosetta Stone
• in Hieroglyphs, Demotic, Greek
• Deciphered by Champollion in
1822
MESOPOTAMIA (Iraq):
• 1800s: Layard excavated at
Kuyunjik (Nineveh), finding a
library of cuneiform tablets.
• 1850s: Mesopotamian
cuneiform deciphered by
Henry Rawlinson, using a
trilingual rock-cut text.
MESOAMERICA (Central America):
• 1840s: Stephens explored the
Yucaten (Mexico), publishing
ruined Mayan cities.
• He contested “vanished white
race” theories and argued for
indigenous Indian builders.
• 1960s: Mayan glyphs deciphered.
MESOPOTAMIA (Iraq):
• 1800s: Layard excavated at
Kuyunjik (Nineveh), finding a
library of cuneiform tablets.
• 1850s: Mesopotamian
cuneiform deciphered by
Henry Rawlinson using a
trilingual rock-cut text.
MESOAMERICA (Central America):
• 1840s: Stephens explored the
Yucaten (Mexico), publishing
ruined Mayan cities.
• He contested “vanished white
race” theories and argued for
indigenous Indian builders.
• 1960s: Mayan glyphs deciphered.
TROY (Turkey / Anatolia):
• Homer’s Iliad encouraged
Heinrich Schliemann to search
for Troy in 1870s – 1880s.
• By comparing descriptive &

geographical data, he succeeded
in locating Troy at Hissarlik in
Aided greatly by
Western Turkey. Frank Calvert
• He also excavated Mycenae.
• Despite rough excavation

techniques, he used stratigraphy
to reconstruct Troy’s occupation
levels.
• Homer’s Troy dates ca.1200 BC

(Homer = several centuries later)
TROY (Turkey / Anatolia):
• Homer’s
Unsung Iliad encouraged
hero:
Heinrich
Frank CalvertSchliemann to search
• for in 1870s
Troyfirst
Real – 1880s.of Troy
“rediscoverer”
• By comparing descriptive &
geographical data, he succeeded
in locating Troy at Hissarlik in
Western Turkey. (*aid by Calvert)
• He also excavated Mycenae.
• Despite rough excavation

techniques, he used stratigraphy
to reconstruct Troy’s occupation
levels (*Wilhelm Dorpfeld)
• Homer’s Troy dates ca.1200 BC

(Homer = several centuries later)
WOR BARROW, Cranborne Chase:
• 1890s: General Pitt-Rivers excavated
a barrow on his estate.
• He used the most meticulous

techniques & full recording of
all artifacts, plans, and sections.
• His publications remain some of

the best archaeological reports.
NAQADA (Egypt):
• W.M.F. Petrie also emphasized
detailed excavation & publication.
• He introduced Sequence Dating

for 2,200 graves at Naqada
(also called “seriation dating”).
WOR BARROW, Cranborne Chase:
• 1890s: General Pitt-Rivers excavated
a barrow on his estate.
• He used the most meticulous

techniques & full recording of
all artifacts, plans, and sections.
• His publications remain some of

the best archaeological reports.
NAQADA (Egypt):
• late 1800s –early 1900s:
W.M.F. Petrie also emphasized
detailed excavation & publication.
• He introduced Sequence Dating
for 2,200 graves at Naqada (also
called “seriation dating”): He proposed that
wavey-ledge handles deteriorated → vestigial ones
over time, creating a relative chronological sequence.
INDIA:
• 1862: Archaeological Survey
of India.
• 1922: Sir John Marshall

uncovered the Indus Valley
civilization.
• He excavated a Bronze Age

city: Mohenjodaro
• He excavated historic Taxila

4.1. Classification and
Consolidation: Introduction.
• Late 1800s-1960 =
“classificatory-historical period”
• On-going excavation & analysis
• Refining chronology of anc. Civ.
• Describing regional cultural
sequences
MAYANS:
- Alfred Maudslay (1850-1931)
PERUVIAN civilization:
- Max Uhle (1856-1944) Pachacamac
EGYPT:
- Flinders Petrie (1853-1942)
- Howard Carter (1874-1939)
AEGEAN (Minoan Crete):
- Arthur Evans (1851-1941)
• Late 1800s-1960 =
sequences
MAYANS:
EGYPT:
• Late 1800s-1960 =
sequences
MAYANS:
EGYPT:
Consolidation: Introduction. Knossos
• Late 1800s-1960 =
sequences
MAYANS:
EGYPT:
- Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941)
MESOPOTAMIA (Iraq -Ur):
- Leonard Woolley (1880-1960)
EUROPEAN Prehistory:
Gordon Childe (1892-1957)
- Leading scholar & innovator
- Dating artifact assemblages →
chronological sequences.
- Consistent assemblage of artifacts
= culture (CAUTION pots = people)
- He took the next Step: looking at
origins of peoples/cultures
- He argued indigenous development
versus Near Eastern invaders or
diffusion (trade)
- He examined WHY civilization
arose in the Near East
- He suggested a Neolithic revolution
(= Marxist influence)
MESOPOTAMIA (Iraq -Ur):
- Leonard Woolley (1880-1960)
EUROPEAN Prehistory:
Gordon Childe (1892-1957)
- Leading scholar & innovator
- Dating artifact assemblages →
chronological sequences.
- Consistent assemblage of artifacts
= culture (CAUTION pots = people?)
- He took the next Step: looking at
origins of peoples/cultures
- He argued indigenous development
versus Near Eastern invaders or
diffusion (trade)
- He examined WHY civilization
arose in the Near East
- He suggested a Neolithic revolution
(= Marxist influence)
Gordon Childe’s
1930 excavations
at Skare Brae
Neolithic settlement at
Skare Brae in Orkney
AMERICA (Indian cultures):
• Franz Boas (1858-1942)
- Detailed retrieval & analysis of
artifacts & data
- Massive data base of cultural
characteristics:
Pottery & basket dec. motifs
Mocasin types
- “Direct historical approach”:
Back-tracking ancient pottery etc.
from modern Indian pottery etc.
• Cyrus Thomas East U.S.

• W.H. Holmes East U.S.
• A.V. Kidder SW U.S. (Pueblo)
• J.A. Ford SE U.S. (chron.)
• W.C. McKern Mid-West (chron.)
4.2. Ecological approach:
• Julian Steward (1902-1972)
- explained:
a. cultural change
b. HOW living cultures function
c. Stressed interaction with the
the environment.
• Cultural ecology = assessing
cultural change from different
adaptations to the environment.
• Gordon Willey (1913-2002)
- One of earliest settlement
pattern studies (Viru Valley, Peru)
• Graham Clark (1907-1995)
- Examined HOW cultures adapted
to environment
- Used different specialists (analysis)
(Star Carr in Northeast UK)
4.3. Rise of archaeological
science:
• Post WW II = many scientific tools
available:
- Radiocarbon dating (C14) in 1949

Dating sites & independent chron.
- Trace-element analysis
Identifying materials (sources/trade)
- Organic chemistry:
Organic residues (pot contents)
- Isotopic studies:
Diet & nutrition of past populations
- Archaeogenetics & molecular arch.

DNA & human evolution
science:
available:

- Isotopic studies:

science:
available:

- Isotopic studies:

5.1. Turning Point in
Archaeology: Introduction.
• 1960s = change in approach to
interpreting archaeological data
• Concerns:
1. Role of dating (i.e., now had C14)
2. Explanatory approach and
process for interpretation
(traditionally = “migration”
& “influence” in explanations)
• W.W. Taylor (1948) had already
proposed a “conjunctive approach” Ca. 1200 BC Hittite Kingdom
(i.e., considering all data) collapsed! How/Why?
• Willey & Phillips (1958) proposed: - Sources: internal turmoil
a. More interpretation of social aspects royal succession
b. Greater “processual interpretations”: = - External: Sea Peoples
gen. processes affecting culture history
c. Aspired to synthesize causes & factors N. Kaska tribes
affecting social & cultural aspects. - Empire overstretched
5.2. Birth of “New Archaeology”:
• Lewis Binford & others → developed
new approaches to interpreting the
archaeological record: arguing …
1. Arch. Evidence has more potential for
assessing ancient society & economy
2. Specifying evidence behind conclusions
3. Explaining (vs. describing)
4. Analyzing cultures as systems with
sub-systems: subsistence, technology,
trade, etc.
5. Focusing more on scientific approaches
6. Quantification & statistics
7. Computers (1960s+)
Now shift from functional-processual →
cognitive-processual (belief systems, etc.)
5.2. Birth of “New Archaeology”:
• Lewis Binford & others → developed
new approaches to interpreting the
archaeological record: arguing …
1. Arch. Evidence has more potential for
assessing ancient society & economy
2. Specifying evidence behind conclusions
3. Explaining (vs. describing)
4. Analyzing cultures as systems with
sub-systems: subsistence, technology,
trade, etc.
5. Focusing more on scientific approaches
6. Quantification & statistics Mechanics …
7. Computers (1960s+)
→
Now shift from functional-processual →
cognitive-processual (belief systems, etc.) Thoughts …
6.1. World Archaeology:
Introduction.
• New approaches to field
archaeology
- more detailed work
- quantification
• More emphasis on
1. Research designs (asking
questions)
2. Regional & environmental
studies to address larger
questions
3. Designing approaches to
attaining these goals
a. statistical sampling
b. screening excavated
matrix (arch. materials)
6.2. Search for origins:
• Agriculture:
- R.J. Braidwood (1907-2003)
origin of agriculture in Near East
- R. MacNeish (1918-2001)
origin of agriculture in Mexico
• Rise of complex societies:

- R. Adams in Mesopotamia
- K. Flannery & J. Marcus in Mexico
• Origins of human species:

- Louis Leaky (1903-1972)
- Mary Leaky (1913-1996)
- Fossil hominids in Olduvai Gorge
in East Africa (Kenya)
6.3. Archaeology of
continents:
- Relatively less studied areas =
becoming a focus for research
• Africa:
- African Iron Age cultures
- Investigations of the Zimbabwe
ruins (southeast Africa)
- J.D. Clark 1970. The Prehistory
of Africa.
• Australia:
- Relatively little studied continent
- 1960s J. Mulvaney found earlier
human occupation in Queensland
(in late Ice Age) via C14
6.4. The living past:
• The “New Archaeology”
a. Focused on explanation:
- Formation of the arch. record
- Social meaning of architecture
& artifacts
b. Drew on ethnographic studies
from an arch. Perspective
• Issues:
Who should study the past?
Living cultural descendants
versus foreigners.
• Urban etc. development worldwide
→ more salvage work
→ more efforts to preserve cultural
heritage
→ now efforts to preserve our
recent heritage (historical arch.)
6.5. Who are the searchers?
1800s – early 1900s
• Initially mostly rich persons of leisure
and patrons hiring workers.
Post WW II:
• University researchers
museum staff → artifacts!
• Mostly Europeans & North Americans
Recently (post British empire-today):

• Virtually all nations have a national
archaeological/cultural heritage service
Increasing nationalism regarding

one’s past and who excavates it.
• Many nations now require foreign
projects to team up with nationals …
6.6. Beginning the new
millennium:
• 1980s-1990s post-modernist trends
→ followed in archaeology as well
“Postprocessual” approach:
- Multiple methods to interpreting
archaeological record
- Patchwork of data makes objectivity
impossible (multiple interpretations
from probable-improbable answers)
→ need inferences
- Many different approaches:
a. Empathetic understanding &
interpretation
- Tailor-make study to specific
culture & context
- reject cross-cultural comparison
- reject explanations from
generalizations
“Postprocessual” approach:
- Some data = insufficient and
still requires earlier processual
approaches.
- Regions & periods with rich

historical sources maintain
more interpretive approaches.
- Greater emphasis in artifact

analysis
- Looking at agency:
The broader social meaning &
symbolism of an artifact.
6.7. The widening field:
globalization:
• Ethnocentrism influences how
we interpret & display the past
in museums, books, films, etc.
• Sensitive issues in portrayal:
Display on 1945 destruction of
Hiroshima
Reception by US veterans etc.
vs. Japanese viewers
• Ethnic-cleansing:
Elimination of another culture &
its heritage.
• Political issues in archaeology:
- “Divine rights” to land area (Israel)
- Palestinian heritage (Philistines)
• Feminist archaeology:
- Some promotion of mother goddess
figure
- Redressing imbalance in studies
a. Androcentrism (male bias): E.g.,
terms “mankind” → humankind
Ancient weapons = “male”
b. women in archaeology
Employment & status increasing
c. Past cultures (gender roles)
• Cultural heritage management
- May = western emphasis (UNESCO)
- Some nations cannot afford to
maintain heritage sites versus
cropland (feeding population)
7. Summary:
• Three key concepts in development
of modern archaeology
1. Antiquity of humanity
2. Darwin’s principle of evolution
3. Three-Age system for artifacts
• Most civilizations found by late 1880s
• Decipherment in 1800s – 1900s
• Post WW II ecological approach
new scientific methods
• 1960s-1970s New Archaeology
(processual approach):
- Aspired to explain processes of
change
- Regional archaeology & settlement
patterns
• Recently post-processual approaches
- admit greater interpretations
For more in-depth coverage of selected periods and regions,
this instructor (G. Mumford) has other courses on …
Ancient Egypt (including Nubia):
(1). Ancient Egypt in Age of Pyramids: Prehistory-1550 BC (Ant.309)
(2). Imperial & Post-Imperial Egypt: ca.1550-332 BC (Ant.310)
(3). Explorers, Mummies, Hieroglyphs: Thematic (Ant.446)
(4). Cleopatra’s World: Alexander to Caesar … (Ant.497)
Ancient Syria-Palestine:
(4). Archaeology+History of Bible Lands: Neolithic-586 BC (Ant.340)
Ancient Mesopotamia:
(5). War+Peace in Ancient Mesopotamia: Neolithic-586 BC (Ant.416)
Ancient Anatolia (Turkey) and Greece:
(6). Mediterranean Area: Prehistory to Trojan War (Ant.245)
Neolithic period including Europe; focus on Bronze Age Anatolia & Greece.
All course lectures and materials posted on www.academia.edu
(under Gregory Mumford), plus on individual UAB course websites
via Canvas; Other links via Mumford,Dept. Anthro. homepage UAB
Dept. Anthro (UAB)--East Mediterranean & Ancient Near East.
+Neolithic Europe
Anth.
340 + Persia
Bible
Lands
Courses covering Prehistory to end of Bronze Age and later …

Anth 106 PPT Lecture 2 Summary of and Su

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Introduction to Archaeology: Spring 2023

Renfrew & Bahn 2019 (8th ed.): chp.1

Lect.-2: Introduction. Nature & aims …

6. Turning point in archaeology 56

(2). Take notes on lectures, etc. …

(4). Ask questions during the class if

(5). Complete optional materials:

• Uses inscriptions (history) whenever

• BUT, = also like a science:

- Hypothesizes (explaining data)

- Testing theories (more data)

- → model (summarizes data pattern)

= BOTH a humanity & science.

- Were early humans …

- Evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens

- How/why did art appear

- How/why = shift to agriculture

- How/why did cities appear

- How are identities formed

• Archaeology is influenced by:

- James Hutton 1785. Theory of the Earth

- Charles Lyell 1833. Principles of Geology

• 1841: Jacques Boucher de Perthes

- He argued a date long before the

- (1859: agreement by British scholars)

- Many scholars discarded “biblical

• 1865: John Lubbock’s Prehistoric Times

• It argues that evolution explains

• 1871: Charles Darwin published

• He argues the human species

E.g., Studies of North American Indian

• Ethnographers & anthropologists

1870s: Taylor & Morgan argued 3 stages:

→ Influenced - Marx & Engels

• Discoveries in Old & New Worlds

• in Hieroglyphs, Demotic, Greek

• By comparing descriptive &

• He also excavated Mycenae.

• Despite rough excavation

• Homer’s Troy dates ca.1200 BC

• He also excavated Mycenae.

• Despite rough excavation

• Homer’s Troy dates ca.1200 BC

• He used the most meticulous

• His publications remain some of

• He introduced Sequence Dating

• He used the most meticulous

• His publications remain some of

• 1922: Sir John Marshall

• He excavated a Bronze Age

• He excavated historic Taxila

• Cyrus Thomas East U.S.

- Radiocarbon dating (C14) in 1949

- Archaeogenetics & molecular arch.

- Radiocarbon dating (C14) in 1949

- Archaeogenetics & molecular arch.

- Radiocarbon dating (C14) in 1949

- Archaeogenetics & molecular arch.

• Rise of complex societies:

• Origins of human species:

• Mostly Europeans & North Americans

Recently (post British empire-today):

Increasing nationalism regarding