CHAPTER III
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT
FIELD WORK
PURPOSE
Chapter III
takes the student on an archaeological project. It begins with field work,
moves to the laboratory where the artifacts and other data are analyzed, and
ends with the reconstruction of the site and of the culture whose remains it
contained. Although fictitious, this project is not very different from many
that have taken place in Georgia. It attempts to show the student that along
with the excitement of archaeological research, there is much hard and
meticulous work.
This chapter
also attempts to answer some of the questions most frequently asked of
archaeologists: "How do you decide where to dig? How did you know there
was a site in that location? Why do you keep the excavation so neat? How much
work is required in the laboratory? How can archaeologists reconstruct a past
way of life from nothing but artifacts? Why shouldn't I dig if I find a
site?"
To Dig or Not to
Dig Educators
Courtesy, The LAMAR
Institute, Inc. Time 10 minutes
Objectives-FOR ADULTS
To help teachers understand the ethics and problems of digging archaeological sites
Topics/Content
History, Preservation, Archaeology, Character Education
QCCs Addressed
Learning Styles Used
Materials
This handout.
Procedures
When you take your students to dig an archaeological site you are:
- Mixing up the site layers forever
- Taking the artifacts from a known location and making them worthless
- Obliterating important clues in the soil
- Destroying our history and that of future generations
- Permanently destroying the site
When you take your students to dig an archaeological site you are teaching them that:
- It is o.k. to dig without the supervision of a real archaeologist, since their teacher does it
- Archaeology is not a science requiring years of academic and field training, but can be done by anyone who may have read a book or seen (or been on) a dig
- Archaeology is only digging in the dirt, and not research, scientific method, laboratory analysis, data entry, interpretation, reporting, curation, exhibits, and books
- Preservation of sites is not important
- The past only belongs to those who can find it and dig it up first
Evaluation
Discussion:
Real archaeological digs require trained personnel, monumental planning, logistics, funding and ethics. Even mock digs can be a major ordeal for a teacher, while sending out mixed messages or patently false information to the students. What are some more appropriate options that can teach students REAL science, math, English, reading, and reasoning skills, along with logic, ethics, and preservation ideals, while giving them the enjoyment of using archaeological concepts?
Follow-up Activities:
· Today there are hundreds of classroom activities for educators to use without destroying a real site, or potentially destroying a site that may be in the area of a mock dig in the ground.
· This manual contains information about many ethical teachers’ guides, books, web pages, and videos detailing these resources.
Ethics and Them;
Ethics and Me Lesson Plan Grades
6-12
Courtesy, The LAMAR Institute, Inc. Time 25 minutes
Objectives
The students will be able to differentiate between actions of professional archaeologists and looters, discuss various preservation ethics, and offer rationale for their positions.
Topics/Content
History, Preservation, Archaeology, Character Education
QCCs Addressed
Learning Styles Used
Materials
Large space in a room or outside.
Procedures
Set Up: Begin by playing the following archaeology game, using the questions below. Point to one side of the room or yard and tell the students that is the “True” side. Point to the other side and say that is the “False” side. Tell them you will ask a question and if they think the answer is True, go to the True side and if the answer is false, go to the other side. (Tell them the answer after each question.)
Questions:
1. Archaeologists sell artifacts to support research. (False-It is unethical for them to sell artifacts.)
2. Most archaeologists majored in Anthropology in college. (True)
3. Whenever a site is going to be destroyed in Georgia, archaeologists must be called in first. (False-Lots of sites are destroyed everyday, legally.)
4. Archaeologists get to dig wherever they want. (False-Archaeologists have to obey the law.)
5. Archaeologists have to pay a university or museum to take their artifacts. (True-It costs money for an institution to take care of artifact collections forever.)
6. Archaeologists are allowed to keep half of their finds. (False-They can’t keep any artifacts.)
7. To be a good archaeologist, one must write reports about each dig. (True)
8. Some archaeologists do lots of work and never dig a site. (True. They may study artifacts in the lab, analyze soil samples for pollen or do historical research.)
9. Archaeologists should share their discoveries with the public. (True)
10 If an artifact is in a river, it is always out of place and not important to history or to archaeologists. (False)
Evaluation
Class Discussion:
Archaeologists have great jobs. The work is often fascinating, and can be a mix of manual labor and brain power. It can include traveling to interesting places and learning about historic and prehistoric people. It can also be tedious, include extreme temperatures and climates, involve sparse living conditions, and very hard labor. The reward of being an archaeologist is tempered by the responsibilities of stewardship that come with the job. Archaeologists undertake years of college and field training to be competent to excavate sites. They must continue to read and attend conferences to stay current on research. Good, professional archaeologists adhere to many ethics. These are outlined by a professional archaeology organization known as The Society for American Archaeology. Ethical archaeologists dig sites responsibly. This means they have conducted adequate research, abided by the law, developed a research design, used scientific methods to excavate, analyze and conserve the artifacts, produced a scientific report including data, surrendered the artifacts for curation (permanent, safe storage), and tried to make the results known to the public. Just as archaeologists have an ethical responsibility to take proper care of archaeological sites, so does everyone else! While non-archaeologists are not trained to competently dig sites without archaeological supervision, everyone has a responsibility to protect our past. Why is it important to protect the past? (Brainstorm)
Follow-up Activities:
How can we protect the past that belongs to all of us? (Brainstorm) Some ideas might be to:
· Join local and statewide preservation organizations.
· Interview your local county commissioners, city council members, and policy makers to find out if your community has ordinances protecting archaeological sites or requiring that surveys be conducted prior to construction that may harm important sites. If not, encourage them to design such an ordinance, with input from archaeologists, the preservation community, and the general public.
· Take a walking tour of your school neighborhood or other community in your area. Are there any archaeological sites such as historic house sites, buildings, or cemeteries in the area? Document these with photographs, notes, research at libraries/historical societies/the internet, and oral interviews of people who may know something about the sites.
· Read the local and regional newspaper, looking for articles about archaeological sites in your area. Try to determine the attitude and political climate regarding preservation of sites in your community from these articles.
· Don’t dig sites without the direction of a professional archaeologist.
· Share your knowledge. Help educate others about the destructive nature of digging sites without the direction of a professional archaeologist. Such destruction includes digging for bottles, digging sites while using a metal detector, and digging for Indian relics.
· Keep informed about new laws impacting archaeological sites.
· Invite a professional archaeologist to visit your class to learn more about site preservation.
· Become aware of how archaeology is portrayed in the media. Make a list of movies and books that have an archaeological theme, such as Indiana Jones, Laura Croft, etc. Which parts are realistic, and which are not? What ethical comments can you make about each?
CONCEPTS AND INTERPRETATIONS
Every aspect
of our fictitious archaeological project is simplified for classroom
presentation. For example, Archaeologists seldom undertake an excavation unless
the project stands to answer some questions of current importance. This means
that each project begins with the development of a detailed "research
design" (a statement of problems to be explored and techniques and methods
to be employed). In describing our project in Chapter III, we do not go into
pre‑fieldwork planning. The teacher should explain to the students,
however, that much preparation precedes work in the field, and that this
preparation is based on a sound knowledge of current archaeological method and
theory.
Another aspect
of archaeological research well worth emphasizing is that the resource is
irreplaceable and non‑replenishable. Many other scientists can return to
their original source of data to make additional observations or to correct an
omission. An historian, for example, can reexamine the same documents to check
some passage that he overlooked the first time around, or a botanist can
revisit a plant community years later to review his original findings. The
archaeologist, however, is compelled to destroy his original subject as it is
studied. Once a layer of soil has been removed and artifacts have been lifted
from their context, there is no second chance.
The
destructive nature of archaeological research, therefore, requires that the
work be carefully controlled and that very accurate records be kept. These
records‑notes, drawings, maps, and photographs‑‑form a
permanent record of the appearance of the site at the time of the excavation.
Many
archaeological projects are conducted by one or more archeologists, asisted by
college students. Usually, the students
have received many hours of classroom training before they participate in
fieldwork. Field projects in which
professors are teaching students at the same time they are conducting research are called
"field schools." Several university‑sponsored field schools are
conducted each year in Georgia. Most field schools take place in the summer,
when weather conditions are the most conducive to outdoor work.
After
the completion of fieldwork, the archaeologist and his students spend many
hours in the laboratory, darkroom and drafting room. Artifacts must be cleaned,
preserved, and cataloged; photographs must be developed and cataloged; and the
final, inked copies of maps and drawings must be made. Most archaeologists
would agree that for every hour spent in the field, at least four hours are
required in the laboratory.
Following
laboratory work, many more hours are spent analyzing and interpreting the data
that has been compiled. Analyses are based on the questions asked prior to the
fieldwork and on other questions that have arisen as the field and laboratory
work progressed. Modern archaeologists use many different kinds of statistical
tests and computers in their analyses. This means that young students who are interested
in becoming archaeologists must take their mathematics courses seriously.
Not
only is it important for archaeologists to know basic statistics and
quantitative methods, but they also should have a general knowledge of geology,
botany, zoology, and ecology. This knowledge is necessary because humans live
in complex relationships with the physical world. Soil conditions, climate,
hydrology, the availability of natural resources, and many other environmental
variables affect the distribution and organization of human populations. Thus,
archaeologists must know when to call upon specialists in other areas of
science, and what questions to ask these specialists.
The
last phase of an archaeological project is that of reconstruction and
interpretation. What have the field observations and laboratory analyses
revealed about the behavior of the human group in question? The archaeologist
Looks for patterns and relationships in the data. Are more examples of a
certain kind of artifact found on one part of :he site than another, or in one
stratum than another? Are certain items found together more often than certain
other items? The project at the end of this section can be used to show the
student that the distribution of different kinds of artifacts on the floor of a
single prehistoric house can reveal where certain activities took place when
that house was occupied. In this example, the student will find that it is not
the presence or absence of something that is important, but the relative
amounts by area.
IMPORTANT TERMS
1. data
2. pollution
3. alluvium
4. grid
5. balk
6. plow zone
7. feature
8. postmold
9. zoologist
10. botanist
11. entomologist
12. in situ
13. smelting
14. nuggets
15. thatch
16. corn crib
17. sweat house
18. flexed position
