finding a site survey and excavation september 9, 2014 anth 130
TRANSCRIPT
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Finding a SiteSurvey and Excavation
September 9, 2014Anth 130
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Discovering sites!
• Ground Reconnaissance• Ariel Survey• GIS• Subsurface Investigation • Ground-Based Remote Sensing
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Documentary Sources
• Looking at historical documents for clues as to where ancient archaeological sites maybe located
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Troy
• Schliemann's belief in the historical accuracy of Homer led to the finding of ancient Troy
• Excavated at the ancient site of Troy in 1872
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Biblical Archaeology
• When looking for sites in the Near East Biblical archaeology looks to the old and new testament for clues as to sites locations
• Example: Megiddo, Israel
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Old Maps and Place Names
• Help to work out plans of historic towns and places
• Helps archaeologist know where it would be best to start survey and excavation
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Survey
• Earliest method was to look for the most prominent remains in a landscape: walls, buildings, burial mounds
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Survey• Archaeologists have realized that people left faint scatters of artifacts
throughout the landscape• Not necessarily a site but still represents human activity • Work is done by systamtic survey and sampling procedures• Survey is very important when studying settlement patterns• Used to be used as a preliminary stage of fieldwork but has become its
own type of inquiry
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It is not enough to locate a site and simply study it!
You must study it in relation to other sites and the landscape around it
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Survey
• Sometimes excavation does not need to take place after survey
• Produces a type of regional data that digging does not
• Also used to test natural and mineral resources
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Survey in Practice
• First must establish a boundary
• Must understand the natural and cultural processes working in an area
• Need to asses your resources
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Unsystematic Survey
• Walking across an area• Scanning, recording artifacts• Recording any artifacts in relation to features• Results can be biased or misleading…why?
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Systematic Survey
• Employs a grid or a series of equal spaces that travers each other
• Area is divided into sections which are walked systematically
• Easier to know the exact location of a find• Repeated looking can make sure nothing is
missed
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Aerial Survey
• Survey using air born (or space born) equipment
• Two parts: data collecting and data analysis• They are a means to an end• Google Earth
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GIS
• Geographic Information Systems • Collection of computer hardware and software
and geographical data,designed to obtain, manage, store, analyze and display spacial information
• Has the ability to perform statistical analysis of site or artifact distribution
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Subsurface investigation
• Probes: probing the soil with a rod or auger and noting positions where they strike solids or hallows
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Test Pits
• Small pits dug into the ground at consistent distances…normally one meter squares but sometimes small round holes
• Often used in areas with poor surface visabilty
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Ground-Based Remote Sensing
• Non-destructive techniques to learn more before actually excavation
• Geophysical sensing devices that can either pass energy through soil and measure or response to “read” what lies beneth or they measure physical properties without the need to pass energy
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Seismic and Acoustic Methods
• Sonar• Detection of graviational anomalies to detect caves• Seismic methods to find foundations of buildings• Very useful in underwater archaeology
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Electromagnetic Methods
• Ground penetrating radar• Uses radio pluses to map what is under the
soil • Used to create “time-slice” maps
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Earth Resistance Survey
• Based on the idea that the damper the soil the more easily it will conduct electricity
• Silted ditches retain more mostiure than walls…
• Works very well to find pits in chalk or gravel or masonry in clay
• Will not fully function if the soil is too hard or dry
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Magnetic Survey
• Buried features (such as hearths or pottery kilns) produce slight distortions in the earth’s magnetic field
• This is because of the presence of magnetic minerals
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Other Things Archaeologists do to find and analyze a site before digging
• Use a metal detector• Map the vegetation• Geochemical analysis
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Now we have site….
• What’s next?