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Archaeology

Explore the study of the human past, from the earliest civilizations to the present. Discover the aims, methods, and development of archaeology as a scientific discipline.

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Archaeology

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  1. Archaeology Definition, History and Development

  2. Definition: Time Archaeology is the study of the human past. Thus it covers all periods of human history from the beginnings 5-6 million years ago until the most recent past.

  3. Definition: Subjects Archaeology studies all aspects of the human past, including: • Single artifacts • Groups of artifacts • Whole sites • Entire landscapes

  4. Definition: Related Subjects Archaeology deals with the material remains of past societies. Related sciences are: - History and philology, which deal with written remains of past societies • Anthropology, which deals with the study of humans in general (past and present)

  5. Definition: Aims The ultimate aim of archaeology of archaeology is reconstruct the human past in general. Before a general reconstruction of past societies can be undertaken, many details have to be studied, such as:

  6. Definition: Aims • The dating of artifacts or entire cultures (chronology) • The spatial distribution of artifacts and cultures • Social systems of the past • The technologies used • The economic systems used

  7. Definition: Methods to reach the Aims Besides several purely archaeological methods also methods from other sciences can be used to get information about the human past, especially from: • The natural sciences • The social sciences

  8. The History of Archaeology The development of archaeology as a scientific discipline

  9. Pre-scientific Beginnings The first recorded excavation was undertaken by the Babylonian king Nabonidus during the 6th century BC during the restoration of old temples in Southern Mesopotamia However, this cannot be considered a scientific excavation, as his motivations were clearly religious.

  10. Pre-scientific Beginnings Greeks and Romans, while compiling many legends and myths concerning their past, clearly had no intention to investigate their own history by studying ancient monuments and artifacts.

  11. Pre-scientific Beginnings In the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, the Old Testament became the main source for the study of the distant past of mankind. By counting back the generations listed up in the book of Genesis, 4004 BC was established as the date for the creation of the world.

  12. Growing Interest in Archaeology The period of the Renaissance (15th to 17th centuries AD) saw a growing interesting in Greek and Roman artifacts. However, these objects were mainly valued for their aesthetic qualities. This led to the establishment of the first collection of antiquities, which form the background for the establishment of museums.

  13. Growing Interest in Archaeology In the 18th century AD interest in ancient monuments continued to grow, first scientific descriptions of visible monuments were published (Rome, Athens, Baalbek). From 1748 onwards excavations were undertaken in the Roman city of Pompeji in Italy (buried by an outbreak of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD), but again mainly for discovering works of art. Street in Pompeji Pompeji: Villa del Fauno

  14. Growing Interest in Archaeology 1798-1799: The expedition by Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt included a large number of scientists, which provided detailed descriptions of ancient Egyptian monuments. 1799 discovery of the ‘Rosetta Stone’ near Alexandria. This stone enabled the French scholar Francois Champollion to decipher the Egyptian Hieroglyphs in 1822.

  15. The Rosetta Stone The inscription is a decree of king Ptolemaios V, dated to 196 BC. Two languages (Greek and Egyptian) and three different scripts (alphabetic, demotic and hieroglyphic) are represented on the stone.

  16. The Development of Archaeology as a Science In the 19th century belief in the ‘Biblical chronology’ (i. e. creation of the world in 4004 BC) was shaken by discoveries made by geologists and other natural sciences (Charles Darwin: ‘The origin of species’ (1859) > evolution)

  17. The Development of Archaeology as a Science In 1836 the Danish scholar Christian Thomsen developed the ‘Three Period System’ (Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages) by sorting archaeological finds according to material. While this did not provide absolute dates for the finds (i. e. which century), it provided a relative chronology (i. e. which finds are older or younger than others).

  18. The Development of Archaeology as a Science During the second half of the 19th century AD first scientific excavations were undertaken, mainly at classical sites in Greece and Italy, while excavations in Mesopotamia and Egypt still were mainly concerned with retrieving spectacular finds that could be displayed in the European Museums such as the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris.

  19. Early Excavations in Mesopotamia Early excavations, such as the one A. H. Layard conducted at Niniveh in Mesopotamia from 1846 to 1851, were aimed at retrieving exhibition objects for European museums.

  20. The Development of Archaeology as a Science Between 1871 and 1890 the German merchant Heinrich Schliemann undertook excavations at the site of Troy in Turkey, were he discovered several Bronze Age settlements one succeeding the other. > First stratigraphic excavation in the Near East.

  21. The Principle of Stratigraphy One of the fundamental discoveries made at Troy is the fact that not one site, but many sites succeeding each other were found.

  22. The Development of Archaeology as a Science In 1890 W. M. F. Petrie undertook the first stratigraphic excavation in Palestine at Tell el-Hesi, followed by another excavation at the same site in 1893 by F. J. Bliss (F. J. Bliss, A Mound of Many Cities or Tell el Hesy excavated, London 1894). Petrie also invented ‘cross-dating’ (i. e. dating sites in Greece and the Levant with the help of Egyptian artifacts that were found there)

  23. The Development of Archaeology as a Science • More refined systems to record the excavations were introduced by W. M. F. Petrie, working between 1885 and the 1920ies in Egypt and Palestine, and by G. A. Reisner, excavating Samaria between 1908 and 1910 • From the beginning of the 20th century onwards most excavations had adopted the concept of stratigraphy and had realized the need for a detailed recording system

  24. The Development of Archaeology as a Science During several conferences in Jerusalem in 1922 the directors of the different Archaeological Institutes (British, American, French) agreed to adopt the ‘three period system’ (i. e. the terms Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages were introduced to the Near East).

  25. The ‘New Archaeology’ -1949: W. F. Libby discovered radiocarbon dating. - From the 1960ies onwards new concepts and methods were introduced to archaeology: the application of natural sciences for dating (radiocarbon dating, tree-ring dating), for the analysis of materials and manufacturing techniques, as well as models taken from the social sciences to explain ancient societies as well as cultural changes.

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