Object modified or used by people.
Tools, ceramics and ornaments preserve traces of production and use.
Side 74
Archaeology
A study of past human life through material traces. Archaeology reconstructs behavior from artifacts, structures, landscapes and biological remains by preserving context, establishing chronology and reasoning from incomplete evidence.
material trace→context→dating→inference→reconstruction
06archaeological lenses
05dating questions
05inference risks
74Side
The archaeological record is material, partial and transformed.
Artifacts survive because some materials persist, some contexts preserve them, and later processes have not destroyed them.
Human-made context that cannot be removed intact.
Hearths, pits, walls and postholes preserve spatial organization.
Natural remain with human relevance.
Seeds, bones and pollen reveal diet, environment and activity.
Built environment.
Architecture encodes labor, social organization and repeated use.
Activity across space.
Roads, fields, settlements and resource zones connect sites into systems.
Biological evidence of past lives.
Skeletal evidence can reveal age, health, diet and mobility within ethical constraints.
Context gives objects archaeological meaning.
Where an object was found, what surrounded it and which layer contained it can matter more than the object alone.
Exact find location.
Where in three dimensions?
Spatial position links finds to activities and other evidence.
What was found together?
Shared context?
Co-occurrence can suggest contemporaneity or shared activity.
Which deposit?
Stratigraphic position.
Layers record sequences of deposition and disturbance.
Was a layer cut or built over?
Relative sequence.
Relationships among deposits can reveal which events came first.
Can excavation be reconstructed?
Document before removal.
Excavation destroys original context, making recording irreversible evidence preservation.
Chronology combines relative and absolute methods.
No single dating technique applies universally; material and context determine what can be dated.
| Method | Type | What it uses | Caution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stratigraphy | Relative | Layer order | Disturbance can reverse or mix deposits |
| Seriation | Relative | Changing artifact frequencies/styles | Requires comparable cultural sequences |
| Radiocarbon | Absolute/calibrated | Decay of carbon-14 in organic material | Dates sampled carbon, not automatically the event |
| Dendrochronology | Absolute | Tree-ring sequences | Needs preserved wood and regional chronology |
| Luminescence | Absolute estimate | Stored energy since heating/light exposure | Reset conditions must be understood |
Classification turns fragments into patterns.
Typologies help compare artifacts across space and time but can also impose modern categories on past variation.
Attribute
Describe observable properties.
Material, form, decoration and manufacture can be coded separately.
Type
Group recurring combinations.
Types are analytical constructs, not necessarily categories recognized by past makers.
Function
Infer use cautiously.
Shape, residue, wear and context can support functional interpretation.
Style
Track choices beyond narrow function.
Style can inform chronology, identity or interaction but rarely has only one meaning.
Distribution
Map where types occur.
Spatial patterns can suggest exchange, movement or shared production traditions.
What survives is not a neutral sample of the past.
Taphonomy studies processes between original activity and archaeological recovery.
Materials preserve differently.
Stone and ceramics survive where wood, fiber and food may disappear.
Deposits move or vanish.
Water and wind can remove or redeposit evidence.
Organisms disturb layers.
Roots and burrowing animals can mix contexts.
People move old material.
Artifacts can be curated, recycled or deposited long after manufacture.
Methods determine what is found.
Screen size, sampling strategy and excavation choices shape the observed assemblage.
Prior excavation can erase context.
Museum objects without provenience retain less archaeological information.
Archaeology infers behavior from incomplete traces.
Strong reconstruction separates observation, analogy and interpretation so uncertainty remains visible.
Observe
Describe material evidence before assigning meaning.
Contextualize
Preserve spatial, stratigraphic and environmental relationships.
Compare
Use experimental, ethnographic and cross-site analogies carefully.
Test alternatives
Ask which different behaviors could create the same material pattern.
Scale up
Move cautiously from artifact to household, settlement, region and society.
Archaeology: Theories, Methods and PracticeRenfrew & Bahn · broad foundation
Principles of Archaeological StratigraphyEdward Harris · depositional sequence
Formation Processes of the Archaeological RecordMichael Schiffer · taphonomy and transformation
Archaeological Theoryinference, interpretation and explanation