Photos by David Maxwell

1
 What is Anthropology?
anthro = man

 Anthropology is the study of

humans.
 This includes the study of human
biology, behaviour, interaction
with the environment, and
culture.

2
Four Fields of Anthropology

Cultural
Anthropology Archaeology

Physical or Linguistic
Biological Anthropology
Anthropology

3
 Cultural Anthropology
 The study of modern social
groups.
 Typically, these groups are people
of a different cultural background
than the anthropologist studying
them (studying your own culture
is called Sociology).
 Cultural anthropologists
frequently study social behaviours,
such as belief systems, kinship
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Bronis%C5%82aw_Malinowski_among_Trobriand_tribe.jpg systems, and ways of obtaining or
producing food.

4
 Linguistic Anthropology

 Linguistic anthropologists study

languages.
 Typically, these are languages that
are strictly verbal, and have no
written form.
 However, linguists do work in
archaeology when ancient scripts
are present.

Photo by David Maxwell

Tikal Stela 31 AD 445 Ruler Yax Nuun Ahiin 5

 Biological Anthropology
 The biological and physiological study of humans, their ancestors, and
their relatives.
 Frequently involves the study of human skeletons, assessing diet,
disease, population genetics, etc.

Plaster casts of victims of Vesuvius eruption, Pompeii.

Photos by David Maxwell

6
 Archaeology

Courtesy of Statistical Research, Inc.

Site excavation, San Nicolas Island, California 7

 What is Archaeology?
 Study of human behaviour as reflected in material culture, specifically artifacts.
 Although it usually is, Archaeology need not be a study of the past exclusively.

Clockwise from upper left:

Broken stone tool, Fraser River, BC;
Maya ceramics, Guatemala, Various
artifacts, Pender Island, BC;
Excavation, San Bernardino,
California; Maya Pyramid, Tikal,
Guatemala.
8
Photos by David Maxwell
 Archaeology
 Archaeology is the study of past human
behaviour from material items left behind.
 These can be ancient items, such as stone tools
that are millions of years old.
 These can also be recent items, such as modern
garbage.

Bill Rathje excavating a modern landfill

Photo by David Maxwell
https://sites.google.com/site/fatherofgarbology/garbology

Modern glass bottle in archaeological

site, San Bernardino, California 9
 Principle Goals Of Archaeology
 Explaining the mechanisms of
culture change, along with:
 Outlining culture histories.
 Description and chronological
ordering of artifacts.
 Spatial distributions – identifying
the nature and extent of culture
areas.
 Data collection, classification,
ordering things in time and space.
 Reconstructing past life-ways.
 Subsistence and Diet, and
Settlement and Trade
 Explaining culture change.
 Identifying and explaining the
causes and mechanisms of
culture change.
 Becomes one of the central
concerns of “Modern Period”
archaeology.
10
Photo by David Maxwell

1
 Science
 What is Science?
 Science is a means of obtaining reliable,
factual, objective information about the
world around us.
 Feder (Frauds, Myths, Mysteries 5ed, p22)
says “science is a series of techniques used
to maximize the probability that what we
think we know really reflects the way
things are.”
 Relies on observation, reasoning, and
evaluation of reliability in conclusions.
 Scientists are people too; so they are not
always “right” the first (or second) time http://www.ssninsider.com/emmy-spotlight-jim-parsons-on-jack-tripper-playing-a-genius-and-the-anxiety-of-donning-a-tux/big-

around. bang-theory-jim-parsons-sheldon/

 Science is self-correcting; errors are

exposed and re-investigated.

2
 Science
 Underlying Principles:
 There is a real and knowable
universe.
 The universe operates according to
understandable rules, laws, or
principles.
 These laws are consistent across
space and time.
 These laws can be discerned and
understood by people.
The “Scientific Method”
1. Observe.
2. Induce general hypotheses or
possible explanations for what
was observed.
3. Deduce specific things that must
also be true if the hypothesis is
true.
4. Test the hypothesis by checking
against the deduced
implications.
3
 Science
 Step 2: Induce general
hypotheses or possible
explanations for what was
observed.
 This is the hardest part.
 Where people (even scientists)
are most likely to go wrong.
 People tend not to think of
every possible explanation, so
only a few possibilities get
tested.
4
 Science
 Example:
 If a light in the sky is not an airplane,
not a rocket, not a blimp, there’s not
much else it could be, so it could be an
alien spaceship! Right?
 Wrong!!
 Eliminating all your possibilities
except one, doesn’t make that one the
only possible answer. only shows limitations of thinking
 You most likely didn’t think of enough
other possibilities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unidentified_flying_object#/media/File:PurportedUFO2.jpg
5
 Occam’s Razor

 To help in selecting and evaluating

hypotheses:
 Occam’s Razor (“Entities are not to be
multiplied beyond necessity”).

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/12/12/is-climate-forecasting-immune-from-occams-razor/william-of-
ockham-razor-quote/

6
 Occam’s Razor
 To help in selecting and evaluating
hypotheses:
 Occam’s Razor (“Entities are not
to be multiplied beyond
necessity”).
 The explanation or hypothesis that
that explains a series of
observations with the fewest
assumptions or leaps (of faith) is
the best explanation or hypothesis.

http://i1.wp.com/www.activeresponse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/coyote.jpg

7
 Applying Occam’s Razor: Nazca Lines
 Hypothesis that Ancient Peruvians
built the lines:
 Need only assume Ancient
Peruvians:
1. Were clever.
2. Had seen these animals.
3. Could sight a straight line.
4. Were capable of moving stones
off the desert floor (for whatever
their reason).
http://www.peru-explorer.com/nazca_lines_map.htm

8
 Applying Occam’s Razor: Nazca Lines
 Hypothesis that Extraterrestrials drew the
lines, or instructed the Nazca to, or
somehow inspired them to do so:
1. Requires there to be extraterrestrial,
intelligent life.
2. Requires them to have interstellar craft.
3. Requires them to have developed this
technology at this particular point in time
(Universe is more than 12 billion years
old).
4. Requires them to be relatively close to
earth.
5. Requires them to have visited Earth.
6. Requires them to need immense and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/L%C3%ADneas_de_Nazca%2C_Nazca%2C_Per%C3%BA%2C_2015-07-29%2C_DD_52.JPG

bizarre airfields (that are very rough).

7. Requires that they had the odd need to
see birds & monkeys & fish drawn on the
ground.
9
 Lost Knowledge & Technology
 How could places like Stonehenge
and the cities of the Maya have
been built by ancient people
without modern technology?
 We tend to equate “ancient” with
“primitive.”
 Human brain has changed little
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Stonehenge2007_07_30.jpg

over the last 100,000 – 200,000

years.
 Ancient people were likely as
intelligent as we are.
 The difference? They lacked the
accumulated knowledge we
possess.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/kabwe-or-broken-hill-1-homo-heidelbergensis-skull 10
 The Atlantis Connection
 Claims of evidence of Atlantis have been identified with practically every corner of the globe:
 Outside Gibraltar.
 Crete, or Santorini (volcanic eruption of Thera ~1640 BC; palaces, villas, and towns on Crete, as
well as (Minoan) sites throughout the Aegean, were destroyed between 1500-1450 BC).
 Antarctica.
 Spain.
 Japan.
 Scandinavia (ancestors of the vikings?).
 North Atlantic 100 miles West of UK.
 South China Sea.
 Eastern North America.
 Near Cuba.
 Bimini, Bahamas.
 Highland Peru or Bolivia.
 Turkey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location_hypotheses_of_Atlantis#/media/File:Atlantis_map_1882_crop.jpg

 Off the coast of Cyprus, eastern Mediterranean. 11

 The Atlantis Connection
 Common theme in Pseudoarchaeology:
 Idea that one (always vanished!)
advanced civilization inspired or
contributed otherwise “unexplainable”
technology exhibited by some cultures.
 Recurring concept: the technology for
building pyramids originated in http://www.davelandweb.com/sub/

Atlantis.
 Both the ancient Egyptians & the
ancient Maya learned how to build
pyramids from the Atlantians.

12
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/06/13/marine-geologist-unearths-a-supposed-10000-year-old-yonaguni-monument-dubbed-japanese-atlantis/
 The Atlantis Connection
 Many problems exist in this explanation:
 Little similarity between Maya & Egyptian pyramids.
 Smooth vs. Stepped.
 No stairs vs. Stairs.
 Solid fill vs. rubble fill.
 Tomb marker vs. platform for temple (one Pharaoh
buried in pyramid; some Maya pyramids used as https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Saqqara_pyramid_ver_2.jpg

tombs).
 One building event vs. multiple building events.
 Egypt & the Maya separated in time by 1,500–2,000
years!
 Egypt separated from supposed Atlantis time by
~5,000-6,000 years!
 If both cultures learned pyramid building from
Atlanteans, at least one group was not paying
attention to the instructions!
13
Photo by David Maxwell
Lost Technology: Moving Heavy Stones
 Common question: “How could
ancient Egyptians have built the
pyramids when modern engineers
cannot?”
 Modern engineers can!
 3,900 year old, Middle Kingdom, wall
painting from tomb of Djehutihotep.
 Statue on sledge is >20 feet tall –
weighs more than 57 tons.
 176 men pulling on ropes.
By Youssef Grace - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84864493
 Water or oil as lubricant.
 Man on statue clapping hands to
keep time for pullers.

14
 Lost Technology
 Moving Heavy Stones
 Getting the sides of the stones perfectly
flat to fit together without gaps:
 In fact, interior stones are rough
 Casing stones fit together quite well;
“Boning rods” used to check “true”
 Raising stones:
 There are examples of ramps still in place
at Giza.
 Some heavy stones show signs of lever
sockets.
 Likewise, building Stonehenge was
relatively straightforward, but obviously
required ingenuity, time, & many
workers (but it was built in stages over a
couple of thousand years).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex#/media/File:Giza_pyramid_complex_(map).svg

15
 Lost Technology: Baghdad Battery
 Discovered 1936 in Iraq.
 Ceramic vase with a cylindrical
copper tube inside.
 Within copper tube is an iron rod
inside held in place by asphalt
plug. https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/electricity-in-the-ancient-world/

 Replicas are claimed to have

produced a weak electric current
when filled with an electrolyte.
 Cited as evidence of advanced
knowledge.

16
 Lost Technology: Baghdad Battery
 Virtually any two dissimilar metals
will create a mild electrical current
when immersed in an electrolyte.
 No evidence of an electrolyte present
in the Baghdad battery.
 Traces of wine within vase could have
worked as electrolyte, although there https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/electricity-in-the-ancient-world/

are much better choices (saltwater).

 What was powered by this battery?
 Something this amazing would not
exist in isolation.
 Where are the wires to connect it?
 Could be used for electroplating?

17
 Egyptian “Light Bulbs”
 Bagdhad Battery argued as a source of electricity for light bulbs in ancient Egypt.
 Problem 1: the “battery” is ~2,000 years old and from Iraq; the “light bulb” is
~4,500 years old and from Egypt.
 Problem 2: There is ample evidence for oil lamps in Egypt, and for soot on the
ceilings of all temples; no need for other lights.
 Problem 3: If these are battery powered lightbulbs, where is the broken glass?
Where are the wires? Were are the batteries?

http://mdw-ntr.com/blog/articles/86-dendera-light-bulb-explained
By Cacahuate, amendments by Globe-trotter and Joelf - Own work based on the blank world map, CC BY-SA
4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22746336 18
 Why is the General Public SO Gullible?
 The general public is truly interested in the past – a willing audience.
 Overall, the public is not well-informed or well educated.
 Most people understand little about how science works.
 Traditional news reporting is generally written for people with roughly a
grade 6 level of reading ability & comprehension.
 How much science have 11-year-old children been exposed to in school?
 Scientific publications written for other scientists, assuming expert-level
reading ability, comprehension, & familiarity with subject mater.
 Many scientists are not good at communicating with people who lack this
level of expertise, resulting in confusion (or worse).

19
 Public Perceptions of Science
 Survey of scientific literacy among general population in the U.S.:
 Scientifically literate = ~5% of population
 “Informed” and supportive = ~25%
 Generally uninterested = ~70% (but many generally supportive of
scientific endeavors)
 Growing trend of distrust in science & scientists. Many people think:
 Scientists are elitists, due to issues in disseminating data, levels of
education, misconceptions about research funding, etc.
 Scientists are “always changing their minds,” demonstrating that
scientists obviously don’t really know anything; misconceptions about
scientific method, problems understanding the concept of “truth.”
 Scientists are guilty of hiding “top secret” information from the public;
relates to many scientists working for government agencies, conspiracy
theories about governmental control, manipulation, etc.
20
 Public Misconceptions of Archaeology
 Most people:
 Do not understand what archaeology (or
science) is really about. http://www.haunted-
yorkshire.co.uk/ancientmysteries.htm

 Have little ability to evaluate

pseudoarchaeological claims).
 Do not understand that it is a scientific
discipline that studies people not things. https://upload.wikimedia.org
/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/T

 Most people think archaeologists: -Rex.jpg

 Study ancient mysteries.

 Study dinosaurs & other fossils (rather than
people).
 Engage in tomb raiding.
 Study rocks.
http://www.theraider.net/films/raiders/gallery/dvdscreenshots/220.jpg 21
 Why is Pseudoarchaeology so Appealing?
 Most people love intrigue, mystery, and
romance; a good mystery or conspiracy is
always captivating entertainment.
 People hunger for entertainment.
http://www.dailyworldfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/stonehenge-
facts-stonehenge-ufo.jpg
 Reality might require some education to
understand and evaluate.
 Many people think that learning is a chore.
 Many people believe that real science is
hiding the truth from them (for some
unknown, nefarious reason), &
pseudoarchaeology is there to reveal the
real truth behind the mystery.
http://www.coversresource.com/covers/An
cient-Aliens-Front-Cover-5754.jpg
22
 Why is the General Public SO Gullible?
 The general public is a “sitting duck” for charlatans & crackpots who
are more than willing to take advantage of them.
 Many people believe that if it’s on the internet, on TV, or in the news, it
must be true!

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34782752 23

 The Charlatans
 Why are some people more interested in
distorting the past, rather than learning
about the real past?
 Money. Entertainment sells!
 People are interested in the past and in intrigue and
mystery – they are an eager audience
 Erich Von Daniken – “Chariots of the Gods?” 7
million copies, and “sequels”; 60 million copies, in
40 countries, in 28 languages.
 One web site refers to “A Biography of the
Anthropologist Erich Von Daniken”,
 He doesn’t even study “people” since his view is that
all of the worlds mysteries are the result of aliens.
 In fact, he never finished grade school (Honorary
Doctorate degree by the State University of Bolivia).
 He worked in a hotel while he wrote “Chariots
of the Gods?” https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348588430l/91202.jpg

24
 The Charlatans
 Why are some people more interested
in distorting the past, rather than
learning about the real past?
 Money. Entertainment sells!
 Ancient Alien “researchers” conveniently
ignore data that does not fit their ideas.
 They also routinely change their explanations
when someone actually demonstrates that a
previous explanation was nonsense.
 The “founder” of Ancient Aliens is described
as editor and publisher of a magazine on
ancient alien research; it has never published
a single issue.
http://www.coversresource.com/covers/Ancient-Aliens-Front-Cover-5754.jpg

25
 The Charlatans
 Nationalism or worse, racism.
 Archaeology commonly used to establish
“deep history” of occupation and
therefore substantiate a nation’s claim to
an area or territory.
 Can also be misused for this:
 Nazis – attempts to justify political
agenda.
 Evidence of previous ownership of other
territories/countries.
 To establish a “glorious past” as a source
of nationalist pride.
 Claiming that ancient peoples were not
capable of building pyramids, etc., and
required help from a “lost civilization” or
ETs is really a form of racism (The “Our
Ancestors, the Dummies Hypothesis”). https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515iTsJ4HTL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

26
 The Charlatans
 To support religions.
 Similar to nationalism.
 Biblical archaeology – various types:
 Interest in people of the Near East
http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant?file=LostArk.jpg
during that period attributed to the
Bible.
 Bible as history.
 But also, support for specific claims of
religions, and “proof” of their validity.
 March 2020: Dead Sea Scrolls from US
Museum of the Bible proven to be
https://www.sciencealert.com/entire-collection-of-dead-sea-scrolls-fragments-at-us-museum-turns-out-to-be-fake
fakes.
28
 The Charlatans
 The desire for a more “romantic”
past.
 Lost cities and continents seem more
interesting to some people who want to
believe in a “golden age.”
 Humanity was more innocent (less
corrupt)
 Possessed some advanced, or even
“sacred” knowledge.
 Need to create a heroic past. http://moundbuilder.blogspot.ca/2015/01/lickings-hopewell-alligator-mound.html

 Robert Silverberg wrote: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-illinois/CahokiaMounds-old.jpg

 Dream of a lost prehistoric race in the

American heartland was profoundly
satisfying; and if the vanished ones had
been giants, or white men, or Israelites,
or Danes, or Toltecs, or great white
Jewish Toltec Vikings, so much the
better.”
29
 Part I

https://www.booktopia.com.au/a-history-of-archaeological-thought-bruce-g-trigger/book/9780521600491.html

1
 Geology and Archaeology
 Archaeology established as a discipline
in the mid-19th century.
 Greatly influenced by work in geology:
 Principles of Stratigraphy
 Superimposed layers of rocks (strata)
 Recognition of older and younger
layers
 Principles of Uniformitarianism Charles Lyell, “father” of modern geology
 Assumption that ancient geological
conditions were uniform with (similar http://www.nndb.com/people/249/000086988/

to) those observed today.

flood back then is same as flood now, same for earthquakes etc
2
 Uniformitarian Assumption

 We must assume that:

 Natural laws are constant in space and time
 Processes operating today occurred in the past

 For archaeology, we must assume things like:

 Early humans did not enjoy being wet, cold, and hungry.

 Contemporary experience is pretty much all we have to work with, as none

of us were around to experience the past as we study it.

3
 Evolution and Archaeology

 Without the concept of evolution, there was no real concept of

humanity having any antiquity.
 A predominant feature of European worldview was, however, that all
forms of nature – including humans - never changed.
 Natural selection in the theory of evolution refers to genetic change
or changes in the frequencies of certain traits in populations due to
differential reproductive success between individuals.

4
 Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

 Ideas were formed while serving as

a naturalist on the 5-year voyage of
the HMS Beagle.
 Darwin saw the importance of
biological variation within a
species.
 Recognized that sexual
reproduction increased variation
but did not yet know why.

http://media.al.com/spotnews/photo/charles-darwin-by-maull-and-polyblank-1855-1jpg-0f40d674386d20d0.jpg

5
Darwin’s View of Evolution: Natural Selection

 Darwin argued that all individuals of any species have slightly

different traits.
 These traits, if beneficial, would be selected for, giving the
individual a better chance of reproducing.
 Those individuals who reproduce more are more likely to pass
on their traits.
 These individuals are called the fittest, as in survival of the
fittest.

6
 Christian J. Thomsen

 Organizing time – the three-age

system.
 Developed by C.J. Thomsen, a
Danish Antiquarian.
 Divided prehistory into three ages:
1. Stone Age
2. Bronze Age
3. Iron Age 99%
not equally distributed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christian_J%C3%BCrgensen_Thomsen.jpg

7
 Establishment of Human Antiquity
 Irrefutable evidence for the existence of human remains with extinct
animals built up in the 1800s.
 1857: Neandertal skull is evidence of a premodern human.
 1859: Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting the theory of
biological evolution on solid ground.

8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_1#/media/File:Neandertal_1856.jpg
 Discovering Early Civilizations

 Many “vanished” civilizations were

rediscovered in the 1700s and 1800s.
 Ancient Egypt first became widely known at
this time.
 In the 1840s, the Ancient Maya were
rediscovered, leading to great controversy
over whether this civilization was a local
development, or transplanted from
somewhere else.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Copan_Stela_H.jpg

9
 Some Key Early Figures
 Sir Flinders Petrie pioneered the methods of stratigraphic
excavation & seriation.

 Lieutenant-General Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers advocated

the recovery of all objects, not just those of beauty & value. http://www.egyptorigins.org/petriepics.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/
historic_figures/rivers_august
us.shtml
 Sir Mortimer Wheeler brought in the use of grid-squares for
dividing & excavating sites.

 Alfred Kidder brought in specialists to study human remains. http://alchetron.com/Mortimer-

Wheeler-1285929-W#demo

He also developed regional approaches to finding sites &

developing local sequences of occupation.
http://www.findagrave.com
/cgi-
bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11
10
8391404
 Discovering Early Civilizations
 Recognized patterning in archaeological
collections across Europe.
 Classified cultures on the basis of
recurring collections or assemblages.
 Proposed the occurrence of two
worldwide societal revolutions:
1. Neolithic revolution: led to the neolithic = new stone age

emergence of settled villages &

agriculture.
2. Urban revolution: led to the appearance V. Gordon Childe
of cities & complex forms of http://archive.is/DYCg9

government.
11
 Direct Historic Approach
 Widely applied prior to 1970s (still
used by some archaeologists).
 Idea is to look at modern or recent
people living in the same area, and
project their lifestyle back into the
past.
 Thus, fishermen of the Fraser
River 2000 years ago probably were
similar to fishermen of recent
years.
 Obvious problem:
 The further back in time you go,
the further removed the people are
from your modern or recent
comparison.
 Works reasonably well for later
prehistory.
 Unrealistic to apply to anything
more than a couple of thousand
years old.
12
 Culture History
 Also widely applied prior to 1970s
(still used by some
archaeologists).
 Not interested in trying to
understand people or their
behaviour in the past.
 Goal is to describe changes in
material culture through time,
without worrying about why these
occur.
 Reasonably useful as a starting
point for research.
 Must know what happened before
explaining why.
 Ultimately not very interesting –
laundry lists of artifacts and
features.
 Also assumes all people in an area
where the same in the past.
13
 Archaeology as Science

 The Development of Scientific Methods.

 Beginning in the late 1940s, a significant shift occurred in
archaeology.
 Archaeologists began to focus on the study of ancient societies. rather than artifacts

 Previously archaeology defined itself in terms of recovery &

classification of artifacts.
 Development of Radiocarbon dating occurred around this time

14
 1940s & 1950s Influences
James Ford Albert Spaulding

 Artifact types are constructed by  Archaeologists discover artifact types.

archaeologists to answer archaeological  More generally, archaeologists discover
questions. order.
 Stylistic change is continuous.  Spaulding used statistics as his method
 We cut through that change to establish of discovery.
types.

https://www.bibliovault.org/thumbs/978-0-8173-0991-6-frontcover.jpg http://um2017.org/faculty-history/faculty/albert-c-spaulding
15
 Cultural Ecology

 Julian Steward is the father of

Cultural Ecology.
 Essentially, Cultural Ecology posits
that human behaviours are largely
https://lespacesauvage.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/steward_julian.jpg brought about as a response to
ecological stimuli.
 Cultural ecology became very
popular among archaeologists
trained in the 1950s & 1960s.
 Still popular today.
http://anthrotheory.pbworks.com/w/page/29532593/Cultural%20Ecology

16
 Part II

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31173767075&sea https://www.abebooks.com/New-Perspectives-Archaeology-Binford-Sally-
rchurl=an%3Dlewis%2Bbinford%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Darchaeologi Lewis/15042213582/bd
cal%2Bperspective&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image1
1
 Processual Archaeology: Binford
 Introduced by Lewis Binford & his  Binford’s argument was that
supporters in the 1960s. archaeologists could do much more than
 Also called the New Archaeology. describe the past – they could also
 New Archaeologists argued that the
interpret it.
central problem of archaeology was not  Binford insisted on archaeologists taking
the need for more data or better a scientific approach to their work. This
methods, but the need for archaeology meant going beyond measuring &
to focus on deductive scientific work. describing.
 Processualists said that data only tells
the archaeologist about past lifeways, or
cultural processes, if the correct
questions are asked.

http://www.ucpress.edu/blog/date/2011/04/
2
 Archaeology as Anthropology
 Binford was the first archaeologist
to champion the use of a formal
research design, with specific
goals to be achieved, questions to
be asked, and types of data to be
recovered.
 Binford was one of the first to
produce formal hypotheses, and
actually attempt to test them.
 Binford insisted that we are
learning about people, rather than
artifacts.
 Most archaeologists today are
trained in processual archaeology.
 Most use the economic
perspectives of cultural ecology
and cultural materialism without
even realizing it.
 We need to realize that, no matter
how natural or logical we may find
this kind of thinking, it does
indeed add a bias to our
interpretations.
3
 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
 Induction: drawing general inferences on the basis of available data.
 Before the 1960s, characteristic form of archaeological work.

 Deduction: drawing particular inferences from general laws &

models.
 Involves hypothesis testing.
 Characteristic of work in hard sciences, characteristic form of
archaeological work after the 1960s.

4
 Middle-Range Theory
 Seen as a way to link higher-level
theoretical perspectives, such as cultural
ecology, with the kinds of remains
typically excavated.
 Basically, the idea was to try to work
through the highly generalized models
suggested by cultural ecology, and to
determine what it should look like in the
ground.
 Binford emphasized the importance of
middle-range research in understanding
processes that happened in the past.
 Middle-range research allows
archaeologists to make secure
statements about past dynamics on the
basis of observations made on
archaeological material.
 Key to middle-range research is to look
at processes that we can observe in the
present and analyze the material if you wanna learn how
patterning left by those processes. Xyourself
was done, do X
(learn it)
 Ethnoarchaeology is usually defined as
the archaeology of extremely recent
archaeological sites.
 In particular, the archaeologist usually
observes the behaviours that occurred at
a given site, and then excavates that
same site, to determine the correlates in
the ground.
5
 Binford: Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology

 Binford spent several months with

the Nunamiut hunter-gatherers.
 He recorded information about
everything he could relating to
hunting:
 Hunting strategies.
 Meat-sharing behaviours.
 Tool production and maintenance.
 Butchery.
http://potsplacesstonesbones.blogspot.ca/2013/09/

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Binford: Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology
 Binford’s work was a radical
departure from anything
previously known in archaeology
in general.
 Published in book Nunamiut
Ethnoarchaeology.
 For the first time ever, we were
gaining insight into the actual
human behaviours behind
carcasses being disarticulated,
bones being split open, and
particular types of animals being
hunted.
https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Ancient-Men-Modern-Myths/dp/0121000354

7
 Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths
 Binford’s Nunamiut data was so
plentiful that he published a
number of important articles, and,
in 1981, a second book: Bones.
Ancient Men and Modern Myths.
 It was in Bones that Binford made
his most crucial contributions to
archaeology.
 It was here that Binford presented
detailed discussions and analyses
of taphonomic processes.
taphonomy = vertebrate paleontology --> everything that happens to a fossil from the
time an animal dies to the time it is recovered by paleontologists
https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Ancient-Men-Modern-Myths/dp/0121000354

8
 Pattern Recognition
 Pattern recognition was considered one of the keys to recognizing a
human occupation, as patterning was thought to be the exclusive result of
human activity (“the hand of man.”).

 Bone accumulations that were found in association with any kind of

artifacts – and any frequency of artifacts – were automatically assumed to
have been produced by human activity.

 As a result, many bizarre interpretations of human and hominid hunting

behaviours were produced.

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 Non-Human Hunters
 Binford notes that
 (a) death and predation result in considerable numbers of animal carcasses being
scattered in the environment annually, and
 (b) these carcasses are apt to be preserved in dry or wet conditions where the bones are
apt to be buried shortly after deposition.
 Means that lake, spring, & stream marsh margin deposits and internal drainage pockets can
be expected to yield considerable quantities of dead animal remains as a normal condition.
 These dead animals, present due to factors unrelated to human activity, can easily mimic a
human hunting site or kill site.

10
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Hyenas_Fight_Against_Lions_Over_a_Kill_HD_14.png
 Middle-Range Theory, Binford-Style
A. We must know the past by virtue of inferences drawn from knowledge
of how the contemporary world works.
B. We must be able to justify the assumption that these principles are
relevant – that at least in terms of the properties of the principles, the
past was like the present; we must make a uniformitarian assumption.

https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Ancient-Men-Modern-Myths/dp/0121000354
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 Systems Theory
▪ Processualists applied systems theory
to study past societies.
▪ A system is an interconnected
network of elements that together
form a whole.
▪ Systems theory enabled
archaeologists to understand change
in the archaeological record as the
result of changes in interrelated
aspects of culture.

http://www.irows.ucr.edu/cd/theory/wst1.htm

12
 Ethnographic Analogy
 Similar to ethnoarchaeology.
 Typically based on behaviours
recorded for certain cultures,
rather than observed by
archaeologist.
 Allows for comparisons with
groups no longer in existence or
no longer living traditional
lifestyles.
 Useful for providing examples of
different cultural responses to life.
 Widely used in some parts of the
world (American Southwest).
 Requires living or recent group
with well-documented lifeways
that appear similar to
archaeological record.
13
 Ethnographic Analogy
 Can be problematic:
 Archaeologists often fall into trap
of assuming that everything they
see in a site is equal to their
ethnographic comparison.
 If this is really the case, then why
bother digging?
 Also problematic for many kinds
of societies.
 There are no pre-industrial state-
level societies in existence today.
 There are also no non-human
relatives around for comparison
with Neandertals or other
ancestors/cousins.
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 Cultural Materialism
 Championed by Marvin Harris
 Similar to Cultural Ecology.
 Focuses more on material culture
as a behavioural response to
ecological stimuli.
 Harris and his followers have
taken some rather extreme views
on certain past behaviours,
explaining them in purely
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Harris#/media/File:MarvinHarris.jpg
economic terms.

15
 Behavioral Archaeology

 Created by Michael B. Schiffer

 Schiffer was greatly influenced by
Binford, and was actually his
student as an undergraduate at
UCLA.
 Schiffer defines archaeology as the
relationship between human
behaviour and material culture in
all times and places.
https://anthropology.arizona.edu/user/michael-brian-schiffer

16
 Systemic and Archaeological Contexts
 Schiffer distinguishes between systemic context & archaeological context.
 Systemic context is when any object is in use. or is going to be in use

 Archaeological context is when an object has been abandoned or otherwise

left behind. leaving umbrella on bus and you don't retrieve it
 Upon entering archaeological context, objects unlikely to remain static.
 They are acted upon by different factors, termed Formation Processes.
 Two kinds of Formation Processes:
1. Natural Transformation Processes, or N-Transforms.
2. Cultural Transformation Processes, or C-Transforms.

17
 N-Transforms
 Changes brought about by the natural world, rather than cultural events:
 Bone weathering due to surface exposure.
 The formation of caliche on artfacts due to secretions of calcium in the soil.
 The movement of objects in a coastal midden context due to wave action.
 Burning as a result of forest fires.
 Movement and breakage of artifacts & bone & shell due to burrowing animals.
 The development of gnaw marks due to rodent or carnivore chewing on bones.

Photos courtesy of Bob Muir

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 C-Transforms
 Changes brought about by the cultural world, or human activity:
 bone breakage for marrow extraction.
 Intentional burning of a body for ritual disposal.
 Breakage of a stone tool during use or manufacture.
 Remodelling of an existing structure, such as a house, for later occupation.
 Differential transportation of body parts from a hunting kill site.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/ScaleModelTemploMayor.JPG
http://anthropology.si.edu/cm/images/mimbres-10-a326256.jpg 19
 Behavioral Archaeology
 Key concept: all archaeological
sites contain evidence of past
human behaviours.
 The difficulty lies in
understanding what these
behaviours were, because they
have been grossly distorted by
different formation processes.
yellow = undisturbed soil
red and black = heavily disturbed soil
black circles = ancient house and red = where garbage was thrown

Figure from Grenda, et al. 1998.

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