Introduction to Archaeology

Diane King, Media SpecialistBartlett Middle School

What is Archaeology?Archaeology is the scientific study of past cultures and the way people lived based on the things they left behind.  We study man’s garbage to find out how they lived.

Archaeology is a Science Archaeology isn’t just going out and digging

in the ground wherever one chooses.  Anyone can go outside and put a shovel in

the ground and dig.  An archaeologist is a scientist, and as a

scientist he/she must obey some basic rules or procedures.

A variety of tools and research methods aid archaeologists in their job. 

What is Culture?

Culture is the shared ways of life learned by a group of people, including their language, religion, technology, and values.

What are Artifacts?

Archaeologists study past cultures by examining artifacts, objects made, used, or changed by humans.  Artifacts are usually found buried in the ground. 

Have you ever found a penny on the ground? 

That is an artifact that was lost by someone. 

Years from now, that penny could be found by an archaeologist, and it would be studied as part of American culture in the early twenty-first century. 

What is Excavation?

Over time, soil builds up and covers things left on the ground.  That is why archaeologists dig in the dirt, or excavate, to find the artifacts. 

For example, you probably know that vinyl records occurred before cassette tapescassette tapes which occurred before compact disks. Fast forward a bit and pretend you are a future archaeologist studying the turn of the 21st century. You find an artifact, say a vinyl record, in a lower stratum, with a cassette tapecassette tape recovered from an upper stratum and a CD that was recovered from a stratum above the cassette tape.

Excavations at Site 1Au397 near Prattville in Autauga County, Alabama.

SitesAny place where human activity

occurred and where artifacts are found is called an archaeological site.

There are two types of archaeological sites, Prehistoric- Before written history. Historic- After written history.

Prehistoric Sites Prehistoric sites occurred before the culture

began writing records of daily life.  Prehistory is more of a puzzle because most

of what we know about prehistoric people is from the artifacts they left behind.

Archaeologists must try to understand how the artifacts were used without being able to "look up" the answers in a book.

Due to this, archaeologists sometimes make incorrect inferences or guesses. 

In Georgia, and most of the United States, prehistoric sites were created by the ancestors of Native American Indians.

Prehistoric Artifact GameHave you ever thought about what the Native Americans might have used for tools? Play this game to find out if you can identify what these artifacts are and how they might have been used.Play the Prehistoric Artifact Game 

Preserving the Past Many people are interested in the

past. They collect artifacts like pottery, arrowheads, or old bottles.

Some people dig up archaeological sites to get artifacts.

They may not know about scientific archaeology and why excavation units and stratigraphy are so important for understanding the past.

Be Careful!Remember, an archaeological site is

like a book. The layers of dirt and artifacts that are left in the ground can be read like the pages of a book.

When someone digs holes in an archaeological site, it is like ripping pages out of the life stories of past peoples.

Credits

Alabama Archaeology http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/Whatisarchaeology/index.htm

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