Chapter 2:
- Basic Categories of archaeological evidence:
+, Artifacts: Objects used, modified, or made by people
+, Ecofacts: Organic and environmental remains (human skeletons, animal bones, plant
remains, soils and sediments)
+, Features: All humanly modified components of a site or landscape (postholes, hearths,
storage pits, etc)
+, Structures: Buildings of all kinds
- Context:
+, Matrix: the material surrounding it, usually some sort of sediment (gravel, sand and
clay)
+, Provenience: Horizontal and vertical position within the matrix
+, Association: Occurrence together with other archaeological remains, usually in the
same matrix
- Taphonomy: The study of the effect of formation processes on finds came to be buried
and what happened to them after they were buried
- Cultural formation processes vs natural formation processes:
+, Cultural: the deliberate or accidental activities of human beings as they make or use
artifacts, build or abandon buildings, plow their fields, etc
+, Natural: natural events that govern both the burial and the survival of the
archaeological record
โ Important to know whether certain archaeological evidence is the product of human or
non-human activity
- Experimental archaeology: the study of past behavioral processes by testing hypotheses
by replicating processes from the past.
1/ Cultural formation processes:
- Two kinds:
+, Reflect the original human behavior and activity before a find or site became buried
+, Those that came after burial
- Original human behavior is often reflected archaeologically in at least four major
activities - in case of a tool:
+, Acquisition of the raw material
+, Manufacture
+, Use (and distribution)
+, Disposal or discard when the tool is worn out or broken
In case of food crop:
+, Acquired (harvested)
+, Manufactured (processed)
+, Used (eaten)
+, Discarded (digested and the waste products excreted)
