Excavation Techniques and Analysis

Recovering Fossil Forms

Fundamentals of Archaeology

Site discovery and selection Excavation of artifacts, ecofacts, and features Analysis for dates, attributes, and environment

How are Sites Formed?

Taphonomy: Study of how lifeforms or artifacts wound up at a particular location Fossils:

Remains of life form from the past Petrification: replacement of bone with mineral or stone

How are Items Preserved?

Some materials resist deterioration:

Bone: Skulls and teeth Stone or Metal (tools, ornaments) Seeds, with protective covers
Arid climates (Peruvian coast) Water: Planks in Lakes in France Peat moss: the Bog People

Others may be preserved by

More Examples of Preservation

Waterlogged Sites: Bog People, Denmark Arid Sites: Puruchucho-Huaqerones Mummies, Peru Cold Sites: The Iceman, Italian Alps Volcanic Ash, Cern, El Salvador

Site Discovery

Lucky finds Consulting available sources: studies, records, even older informants Maps and aerial photographs Geographical Information Systems/Remote Sensing

Site Selection

Learning everything possible about each site Selecting as large and representative a site as possible Preliminary work: surface finds, features, perhaps test pits or trenches Problem-Oriented Research and Deliberate Surveys: Hadar, Ethiopia

Survey: Mapping, Part 1: General

First principle: Digging is destructive--record everything! Mapping

Latitude, longitude, and elevation Benchmarks or features

Measurements

Horizontal Vertical

Survey: Mapping Part 2: Horizontal Measurement

Select and draw west-east (X-axis) and northsouth (Y-axis) baselines from primary site datum Mark off intervals at meters and centimeters from baselines Label the intervals along axes of the grid by letters, numbers, or both Adapt procedure according to topographical or archaeological features

Survey: Mapping Part 3: Vertical Measurements

Surveying using transit or alidade and measuring rod Vertical base: benchmark or permanent feature of known elevation Convert measures to meters above sea level.

Survey: Test pits and trenches

Test pits provide sample of site stratigraphy Stratigraphy: profile of two or more layers of

Natural sediment Human remains and artifacts

Test pits provide sample of overall site Test Trenches reveal stratigraphy

Tools for Excavation

Dental picks or paint brushes Ice picks Tweezers (fragile objects) Trowels (pointed and square) Shovels (pointed and square-nosed) Heavy equipment (backhoes) Buckets and Screens

Vertical Excavation: Some Laws

Law of Association:

Artifacts found at the same stratum (layer) are in association with one another Artifacts found at different strata are not in association with one another

Law of Superposition: Geological layers are stratified one upon another

Lower strata are older than higher ones

Uniformitarianism: Geological processes similar throughout time

Vertical Excavation: Stratigraphy

Layer deposited in chronological order: lowest layer is oldest and so on. Disturbances can change stratigraphy

Erosion from hillside: oldest is top layer Structure foundation disturbs layers Burrowing animals may move objects Then there are golddiggers and pothunters

Vertical Excavation: Procedure:

Each artifact is recorded and removed

Photographed, sketched, or described Vertical and horizontal position

Soils analyzed for chemistry, pollen, etc Associations between artifacts are recorded

Assumption: artifacts found at same layer occurred at same time period

Vertical Excavation: Proveniencing

Definition: recording artifacts in threedimensional space Transit and stadia rod: record is set from a secondary datum point Theodolite: records the position of an artifact using a laser bouncing off a prism of known height

Horizontal Excavation: Procedure

As each layer or stratum is excavated, it is removed Same procedure of excavation is repeated for next layer One or two layers: prefer horizontal excavation to get lay of the site Different samples are taken for different layers: soil, pollen, charcoal, bone Some layers may be left for control

Analysis: Aims and Objectives

Dating Artifact: classification Bone analysis Paleobotany Palynology (pollen analysis) Paleozoology Structures Other features

Overview of Dating

Unifomitarianism Relative Dating

Stratigraphy Association Calendrical Natural Features Isotopic

Absolute Dating

Dating: Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism vs. Catastrophism Uniformitarianism: All geological processes-erosion, weathering--observable today have always been present and at the same rate Uniformitarianism is the basis of dating. Catastrophism: Changes have been sudden and have occurred at different rates in the past from those of the present.

Relative Dating

Stratigraphy: Establishment of sequences by soil strata

Exceptions: soil disturbance, erosion.

Law of Association: Dating of finds within a stratum

Basic principle: Materials associated with other materials of known age are the same age range

Chronometric Associations: Relative and Absolute Dating Combined?

Bottle styles and clay pipes . Gravestones in Stoneham, MA (Deetz)

Absolute Dating: Calendrical

Entails use of traditional calendars

Mayan

Long Count: Beginning date fixed at 3113 BC Calendar Rounds: 260- and 365-day calendars 332 BC Conquest by Alexander the Great Traced back through recorded dynasties Astronomical events checked by present data

Egyptians:

Others: Chinese, Romans, Greeks

Absolute Dating: Natural Features

Dendrochronology: Tree ring dating

Tree rings vary from year to year Local stumps or timber compared with master sequence (e.g., Univ. of Arizona)

Varve analysis: Clay deposits in lakes from melting ice.

Patterns also differ yearly Likewise compared with master chart.

Absolute Dating: Isotopic Techniques

Common Principles

Isotopes: Radioactive variants of elements (e.g. carbon, potassium) Isotopes decay from radioactive to nonradioactive element They do so at a constant rate

Half Life: The period in which radioactivity rate reaches half the original rate.

Isotopic Techniques: Radiocarbon Dating

Carbon is found in all lifeforms Carbon 12 is the stable element All living things accumulate Carbon 14 At death, carbon 14 decays at a constant rate to Carbon 12 It reaches half the rate of original radioactivity in 5730 years At 11460 years, radioactivity is half the second rate--and so on

Isotopic Techniques: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

In dating, a sample is cleaned then burned to produce gas Proportion of C14 to C12 is then counted using Geiger counter Several grams are required for the count Accelerated Mass Spectrometer: counts individual molecules Advantage: High accuracy, less material

Isotopic Techniques: Radiopotassium Dating

Half life: 1.3 billion years Potassium is found in granite, basalt, clay Potassium 40 decays to a gas, Argon 40 Argon 40 accumulate when a rock is formed Disadvantage: materials less than 500,000 years old cannot be dated

Other Absolute Dating Techniques

Electronic Spin Resonance:

Accumulation of unpaired electrons in crystals in tooth enamel and other items with calcium (inaccurate in bone)
Alignment of particles on magnetic rock; this is approximate and there are few labs Reaction with water; measured by thickness of accretion.

Geomagnetism:

Obsidian Hydration:

Conclusion: Dating

All techniques are problematic

Appropriate labs may be rare Analyzable material must be present: no volcanic rock, no radiopotassium dates Inherent problems: radiocarbon dating may be off by centuries
e.g. dendrochronology with radiocarbon.

Best strategy: use several techniques