Unit 4
Reconstructing the Past

Overview

Unit 4 focuses on the second goal of archaeology,the reconstruction of extinct lifeways based on archaeological data. As the adaptations of a people to a variety of environments are considered, a regional focus becomes more important than a single-site focus. These adaptations are not necessarily all present at one site. They include the social, economic, political, kinship, religious, and technological systems that comprise the lifeways of a people.

Section 4.1 deals with the tools used in the reconstruction of lifeways, experimental archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology. Section 4.2 focuses on economy, ecology, and subsistence. Section 4.3 looks at bioarchaeology. Section 4.4 considers social and political organizations, and Section 4.5 looks at religion and ideology.

4.1 The Tools of Middle-Range Research

Introduction

To reconstruct past lifeways, archaeologists must create “bridges ” to explain behaviours (the systemic context) associated with the formation of the archaeological record (the archaeological context). Middle-range research and the kinds of bridges used by archaeologists are a key element in reconstructing the past in a scientific, quantifiable manner. An understanding of the techniques applied to middle-range research helps to underscore the necessity of going beyond raw data to bring meaning to archaeological research.

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

1. distinguish between systemic and archaeological context.
2. identify and describe the four processes of site formation: cultural deposition, reclamation, disturbance, and reuse.
3. define “middle-range research.”
4. describe the roles of, and relationships between, paleoethnography, ethnography, experimental archaeology, and middle-range research.
5. describe what you would expect to see archaeologically as a result of stone tool production.
6. compare the creation of the two microblade cores, or describe how Crabtree and Johnson created the same stone tool.
7. describe how cultural beliefs have affected the deposition of “refuse” in James Bay Cree camps.
8. define the term “taphonomy,” and discuss some of the processes that affect artifacts, ecofacts, and faunal remains once they are deposited in the ground.

4.2 Economy, Ecology, and Subsistence

Introduction

This section presents several techniques and methods that archaeologists use to reconstruct the interaction between people and their environment. The identification of species from plant and animal microfossils and macrofossils leads to a reconstruction of the paleoenvironment. The analysis of human skeletal material provides information on the success of the interaction between humans and their environment.

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

1. define the terms “faunal analysis,” “paleobotany,” “palynology,” “plant macrofossils,” “site seasonality,” and “optimal foraging theory.”
2. discuss the significance of studies undertaken at Agate Basin, Chavín de Húantar, Lehner Ranch, and Upper Mantaro Valley.
3. compare the NISP and MNI methods of counting bones.
4. compare the conclusions concerning the plant remains from Stillwater Marsh and Hidden Cave.
5. evaluate the evidence for diet and environment at the McIntyre site at the time of occupation.
6. evaluate the evidence for an activity area at the McIntyre site.
7. discuss the factors affecting the survival of plant and animal remains at the McIntyre site.
8. discuss the contributions of palynological and macrobotanical analysis to the reconstruction of past lifeways.

4.3 Bioarchaeology

Introduction

Analysis of human skeletal material provides information on the success of the interaction between humans and their environment. This section discusses the contributions of bioarchaeology in reconstructing diet, patterns of environmental stress, origins and distribution of disease, and past demography. Mummified bodies are particularly informative and the required viewing assignment provides a fascinating case.

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

1. define the terms “osteology,” “paleopathology,” “bioarchaeology,” and “paleodemography.”
2. define the term “stable isotope,” and outline how this analysis is used to reconstruct diet.
3. describe the features of a human skeleton that can indicate physiological stress.
4. describe the impact that variation in skeletal criteria for age and sex can have on the the analysis of a skeletal population.
5. compare the use of nuclear and mitochrondial DNA in molecular archaeology.
6. discuss the contributions that skull and DNA studies have made to our understanding of the peopling of the New World.
7. describe the information that can be gathered from hair.
8. discuss the techniques used and the information yielded in the analysis of the body of the Alps Ice Man.
9. describe the experimental archaeology techniques used and what they demonstrated about the life of the Alps Ice Man.

4.4 Social and Political Organization

Introduction

This section deals with reflections of social and political dynamics in the archaeological record. Chapter 13 of Archaeology introduces the basic concepts of social status and role and examines the archaeological interpretation of social inequity at both the community and the regional levels. Chapter 16 investigates this topic with specific reference to the archaeology of African-Americans and Native Americans.

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

1. define the terms “social organization,” “social status,” “social role,” “kinship,” “descent group,” “egalitarian societies,” “ranked society,” and “big man.”
2. describe the characteristics of the four levels of political organization.
3. describe the significance of the presence of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex artifacts in a burial.
4. discuss Peebles and Kus’s approach to social status at Moundville.
5. describe how androcentrism has affected archaeological interpretation.
6. explain how trade can be used to reconstruct political organization.
7. define the terms “cargo system,” “hieroglyphs,” and “codices.”
8. describe how housing, diet, and housewares reflected the diversity in social status at Monticello.
9. explain how the research design of archaeology can ensure a fair voice for persons whose ancestral history is being interpreted.
10. state what can be done, in terms of public interpretive displays/activities, to fairly represent the archaeology of slavery, as exemplified at the New York African burial ground.
11. describe the evidence used to infer sociopolitical change in the Copan area.
12. describe how the archaeological research done at the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn has corrected inaccuracies in the public’s view of history.

4.5 Understanding the Human Mind

Introduction

This section introduces ways of analyzing the links between the archaeological data used to reconstruct prehistoric beliefs and human behaviour related to ritual.

Objectives

When you have completed this section, you should be able to

1. define the terms “cognitive archaeology,” “cosmology,” and “iconography.”
2. compare Marvin Harris and Mary Douglas’s views regarding the Jewish and Islamic prohibitions on eating pork.
3. outline the different theories used to explain the Amazonian content of Andean Chavín iconography.
4. describe Hall’s approach to understanding the symbolic meaning of the peace pipe in Hopewell culture.
5. compare the various theories that have been proffered to explain the significance of the Upper Paleolithic cave art.
6. summarize Ramsden’s interpretation of the appearance of the palisade in southern Ontario prehistory.
7. explain how an archaeologist’s interpretation of a palisade may be “accidental,” that is, not the interpretation the palisade builders intended.
8. evaluate Ramsden’s assertion that there is a high potential for ambiguity in the messages conveyed by material culture.