Description
Book SynopsisThis much-enhanced new edition of the highly accessible guide to practical archaeology is a vital resource for students. It features the latest methodologies, a wealth of case studies from around the world, and contributions from leading specialists in archaeological materials analysis.
- New edition updated to include the latest archaeological methods, an enhanced focus on post-excavation analysis and new material including a dedicated chapter on analyzing human remains
- Covers the full range of current analytic methods, such as analysis of stone tools, human remains and absolute dating
- Features a user-friendly structure organized according to material types such as animal bones, ceramics and stone artifacts, as well as by thematic topics ranging from dating techniques to report writing, and ethical concerns.
- Accessible to archaeology students at all levels, with detailed references and extensive case studies featured throughout
Table of ContentsChapter Abstracts xvii
Preface and Acknowledgments xxi
Notes on Contributors xxv
List of Tables xxix
List of Figures xxx
1 Collaborating with Stakeholders 1
Larry J. Zimmerman and Kelly M. Branam
Introduction 1
What and Who Is an Archaeological Stakeholder? 2
Collaboration Comes in Many Forms 4
Learning to Work with Stakeholders: A Discipline’s Journey 7
Differing Ways of Knowing the Past 11
True or valid? 11
How can there be different versions of the same past? 12
General Thoughts about How to Consult with Stakeholders 13
Building trust takes time 14
Use ethnography 15
Specific Issues and Concerns 15
Differential power levels 15
Competing claims 15
Informed consent 17
When pasts conflict 18
What do you do if things go wrong? 18
Owning the Past 19
Where to from Here? 19
Acknowledgments 20
Further Reading 20
References 21
2 Stratigraphy 26
Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson
Introduction 26
What Is Stratigraphy? 27
Why Do Archaeologists Study Stratification? 27
How Do Different Layers Occur in Archaeological Sites? 27
Principles (or Laws) of Stratigraphy 29
Sources of disturbance 30
Excavation and Stratigraphy 32
Recording Stratifi cation 33
The Harris Matrix: Interpreting the spatial record 34
Creating Analytical Units 37
Case Study 2.1: Sos Höyük 38
Conclusions 44
Acknowledgments 44
Further Reading 44
Excavation 44
Stratigraphy and formation processes 44
References 44
3 Sediments 47
Anthony Barham and Gary Huckleberry
Introduction 47
Why Study Soils and Sediments? 48
Sediments and Soils – Defi ning Concepts and Terms 50
Field Description and Sampling 51
Broad principles which should be applied during sediment sampling and description 53
Laboratory Techniques 54
Granulometry 55
pH (acidity/alkalinity) 60
Color 62
Organic matter 63
Phosphorus 65
Case Study 3.1: Prehistoric Canals in the American Southwest 67
Case Study 3.2: Kennewick Man, Washington State, United States 72
Conclusions 76
Further Reading 77
References 77
4 Absolute Dating 85
Simon Holdaway
Introduction 85
Chronometry 86
Radiocarbon 86
Dendrochronology 90
Isotopic methods 91
Radiogenic methods 92
Chemical and biological methods 94
Geomorphic methods 95
Limits on Chronometric Techniques 96
Maximum limits 96
Minimum limits 98
Limits on radiogenic techniques 100
Precision 101
From Age Measurement to Chronology 101
Temporal Resolution and Behavioral Variation 103
Fidelity and resolution 104
Bayesian analysis 105
Time averaging 106
Case Study 4.1: Bone Cave 108
Time perspectivism 110
Conclusion 110
Acknowledgments 111
Further Reading 111
References 111
5 Rock Art 118
Jo McDonald
Introduction 118
What Is Rock Art? 118
How is Rock Art Made? 119
Classification 120
How Is Rock Art Recorded? 122
Photography 123
Drawing and sketching 124
Tracing 124
Counting 127
How and Why Is Rock Art Analyzed? 128
Informed Methods 129
Formal (or Structural) Methods 129
Statistical techniques 130
Spatial distribution analysis 130
Information exchange and stylistic heterogeneity 131
Diachronic change 131
Dating Rock Art 132
Relative dating 132
Scientific techniques 135
Gender and Rock Art 135
Case Study 5.1: The Depiction of Species in Macropod Track Engravings 136
Concluding Remarks 142
Resources 142
Key associations and journals 143
Further Reading 143
References 143
6 An Introduction to Stone Artifact Analysis 151
Chris Clarkson and Sue O’Connor
Introduction 151
An overview 151
Analyzing Stone Artifacts 167
Research design 167
Classifying an assemblage of stone artifacts 168
Choosing attributes to record and measure 173
Managing data 176
Measuring extent of reduction 177
Dealing with diffi cult assemblages 187
Archaeometry 191
Determining the type and fl aking properties of stone 192
Sourcing stone artifacts 192
Is 3D the future of lithic analysis? 193
Conclusion 194
Acknowledgments 195
Further Reading 195
References 195
7 Ceramics 207
Linda Ellis
Introduction 207
What Is a “Ceramic?” 209
How Is Pottery Made? 210
Clay preparation 210
Object formation 211
Prefire decoration 211
Firing 212
Postfire treatment 212
Handling of Ceramics during and after Excavation 213
Careful excavating 213
Cleaning ceramics 214
Marking ceramics 214
Repairing ceramics 215
Initiating an Analytical Program for Ceramics 215
Prefatory issues before undertaking an analytical program 216
Quantitative analysis of ceramics 216
Sampling for laboratory analysis 219
How to begin analysis and select an appropriate analytical method 220
Areas of Ceramics Research and Their Analytical Approaches 221
Technology studies 224
Identifying the people producing and using ceramics 225
Dating of ceramics 226
Sourcing of ceramics 227
Usewear and use-life studies of ceramics 228
Conclusion 229
Resources 229
References 229
8 Residues and Usewear 232
Richard Fullagar
Introduction 232
Functional Analysis 233
Methodology, Experiments, and Procedures 234
Microscopes 238
Artifact Cleaning 239
Plant Residues Found on Artifacts 241
Starch 241
Raphides 242
Phytoliths 242
Resin, gums, waxes, and other exudates 243
Animal Residues Found on Artifacts 243
Hair and feathers 243
Blood 243
Bone 245
Shell 245
Usewear 245
Scarring or edge fracturing 246
Striations 246
Polish 249
Edge rounding 249
Beveling 249
Postdepositional damage 250
Hafting traces 250
Residues on Grinding Stones and Potsherds 250
Case Study 8.1: Starch Grains Analysis of Residues on Grinding Stones 251
Case Study 8.2: Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis of Archaeological Residues (by Elyse Beck and Peter Grave) 252
Discussion and Conclusion 253
Acknowledgments 255
Further Reading 255
References 255
9 Animal Bones 264
Terry O’Connor and James Barrett
Introduction 264
Look Before You Dig 265
Sampling and Recovery 269
Bagging and Tagging 277
Working Facilities 279
Making the Record 282
Identification: Whose Bone Is This? 283
What Has Happened to These Bones? 285
Who Was This Animal? 286
Preparing for the Research Phase 291
And Finally 293
References 294
10 Human Remains 300
Charlotte Roberts
Introduction: Why Study Human Remains and How It Has Developed 300
Ethics and Human Remains 304
Taphonomy, funerary context, and excavation and their effect on analysis and interpretation 306
Care of human remains during and after excavation 307
Detection 308
Excavation 308
Cleaning the remains once excavated 310
Curation of human remains 311
The starting point: basic analysis and interpretation 312
Sex and age at death 313
Paleodemography 316
Normal and Abnormal Variation 317
Normal variation 317
Abnormal variation 320
Methods 322
Studies of the Health of Populations 323
Specific Studies of Disease 324
Macroscopic 324
Biomolecular 324
Using Multiple Methods to Answer Questions on Past Health 326
Conclusion 328
Resources 328
References 329
11 Plant Remains 336
Wendy Beck and Emilie Dotte-Sarout
Introduction: A Scene (by Wendy Beck) 336
Macroscopic Plant Remains 337
What Can Plant Remains Contribute to Archaeology? 338
The relationship between people and plants 338
Plants and technology 339
Plants and regional subsistence 339
Archaeological theories and plants 340
What Are the Problems (and Solutions) for Identifying and Interpreting Macroscopic Plant Remains? 341
Technical problems in analyzing macroplants and their solutions 341
Archaeological sources 341
Ethnobotanical and ethnoarchaeological sources 341
What Kinds of Methods Can Be Effectively Used to Retrieve and Analyze Plant Remains? 342
Basic plant classification 344
Archaeological retrieval and identification of seeds, nuts, and fruits (carpology) 346
Wood and charcoal (anthracology) 346
More problems in the analysis of plant remains 346
Case Study 11.1: Plant Remains from Kawambarai Cave, Near Coonabarabran, Eastern Australia (by Wendy Beck and Dee Murphy) 349
Conclusion 354
Further Reading 355
References 355
12 Shell Middens and Mollusks 361
Sandra Bowdler
Introduction 361
Background 363
The Creation of Middens 363
The Identification of Middens 364
Field Procedures 366
Dating Middens 370
Laboratory Procedures 370
Hand Sorting into Components 371
Shellfish Analysis 372
Identification of Shellfish and Other Species 373
Further Analysis 378
Shell Artifacts 379
Fish Remains 379
Interpretation 379
Acknowledgments 380
Resources 380
References 381
13 Artifacts of the Modern World 385
Susan Lawrence
Introduction 385
Cataloging Artifacts 387
Domestic Ceramics 388
Clay Tobacco Pipes 392
Bottle Glass 394
Glass tools 398
Beads and Buttons 398
Metal Containers 399
Firearms 400
Building Materials 400
Cemeteries and Gravestones 403
Artifact Analysis 403
Case Study 13.1: Kelly and Lucas’ Whaling Station, Adventure Bay, Tasmania 407
Conclusion 409
Resources 409
Further Reading 409
References 410
14 Historical Sources 415
Barbara J. Little
Introduction 415
Archaeology and Historical Sources 417
Preparing for research 417
Identifying sources 419
Verify, evaluate, and discriminate 422
Case Study 14.1: Scales of History and Historical Archaeology 423
What Are the Relationships between Documents and Archaeological Evidence? 427
Identification 427
Complement 428
Hypothesis formation and testing 429
Contradiction 429
Confronting myths 429
Creating context 430
Making an archaeological contribution to history 431
Acknowledgments 432
Resources 432
Archives 432
General 432
Oral history 433
Published resources 433
References 433
15 Writing the Past 436
Peter White
Introduction 436
First Decisions 436
What do I want to write about? 437
Who is my audience? 437
Structure 438
Aims 438
Background 438
Methods 439
Results 439
Conclusions 439
An abstract summarizes the text 439
References 440
Acknowledgments 440
Writing 440
Language 442
Writing for Publication 444
Audience 444
Start afresh 444
Follow instructions 444
Think about illustrations and tables 444
Reference efficiently 446
Read your proofs carefully 447
Conclusion 447
Acknowledgments 447
Further Reading 447
References 448
Appendix: Getting Things Right 449
SI units 449
Radiocarbon dates 449
Referencing 449
Proofing symbols 450
Index 451
