A n t h r o p o l o g y

Transcription

1 A n t h r o p o l o g y Appreciating Human Diversity Fifteenth Edition Conrad Phillip Kottak University of Michigan McGraw-Hill 2013 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

2 C H A P T E R DOING ARCHAEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 4-2

3 STUDYING THE PAST Research Methods in Archaeology and Physical Anthropology Kinds of Archaeology Dating the Past Kinds of Physical Anthropology Doing Anthropology Right and Wrong: Ethical Issues 4-3

4 STUDYING THE PAST How do physical anthropologists and archaeologists study the past? How do anthropologists determine the dates of sites, remains, and evolutionary events? What ethical concerns and issues affect physical anthropology and archaeology? 4-4

5 RESEARCH METHODS Anthropological archaeology reconstructs human behavior, social patterns, and cultural features Biological anthropologists study living and recent humans and primates Paleoanthropologists study human evolution 4-5

6 MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES Paleontology: the study of ancient life through fossil records Palynology: the study of ancient plants through pollen samples Bioarchaeology: the study of human skeletons to reconstruct physical traits, health status, and diet (taller people versus shorter people; growth may be stunted by malnutrition) (privileged nobles versus commoners) 4-6

7 MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES Archaeologists use visible remains and microscopic evidence to determine what a site looked like originally (vegetation) Fossil pollen Phytoliths (plant crystals) Reveals which plants were present at a site Can be recovered from teeth, tools, containers, ritual objects, and garden plots Tells about ancient lifeways, especially diet and food preparations Starch grains Preserve well in humid, tropical locations Tells of diet and food preparation Williamson Discovery: residues on stone tools showed that over 50% were from plants; went against prevailing theories that tools were mainly used to hunt and butcher; suggested important role for women in early cultures 4-7

8 MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES Anthropologists also use satellite images to find ancient footpaths, roads, canals, and irrigation systems Remote sensing: the use of aerial photos and satellite images to locate sites Images from NASA satellite used to locate buried footpaths that linked a cemetery to a spring and quarries in Costa Rica 4-8

9 STUDYING THE PAST Techniques to reconstruct the human past and human evolution Fossils: remains, traces, or impressions of ancient life forms Preservation Intensive surveying Analysis Pollen samples reveal diet Sediment/Geological samples suggest climatic conditions 4-9

10 SURVEY AND EXCAVATION Most common local approach is to excavate, or dig, through layers in a site Sites usually not discrete and isolated but parts of larger (regional) social systems Systematic survey: information gathered on settlement patterns over a large area (locations of cities, towns, villages, and hamlets); provides a regional perspective on the archaeological record Makes inferences regarding prehistoric communities such as population estimates and levels of social complexity Hunter/gatherers and farmers Communities with increasing social complexity 4-10

11 SURVEY AND EXCAVATION Excavation: digging through layers of deposits that make up an archaeological or fossil site Layers or strata that make up a site help archaeologists establish the relative chronology for the material recovered Used to determine time order Superimposition artifacts from lower strata are older than artifacts from higher strata; artifacts from the same strata are roughly the same age Cultural Resource Management (CRM) excavates sites threatened by modern development 4-11

12 SURVEY AND EXCAVATION Site is mapped and surface data collected so archaeologist can decide where to dig Grid enables archaeologists to record the exact location of an artifact, fossil or feature Dig using arbitrary levels or natural stratigraphy Soil is passed through screens Flotation used to recover such small remains as fish bones and carbonized plant remains 4-12

13 KINDS OF ARCHAEOLOGY Experimental archaeologists try to replicate ancient techniques and processes under controlled conditions Historical archaeologists use written records as guides and supplements; and work with remains more recent than advent of writing Colonial archaeologists use written records to locate and excavate postcontact sites and to verify or question the written accounts 4-13

14 KINDS OF ARCHAEOLOGY Classical archaeologists focus on literate civilizations of the Old World, such as Greece, Rome, and Egypt Underwater archaeologists investigate submerged sites like ships Contract archaeologists negotiate specific contracts for cultural resource management (CRM) studies 4-14

15 DATING THE PAST The absence of evidence does not necessarily prove evidence of absence. Fossil record is NOT a representative sample of all the plants and animals that have ever lived Taphonomy: the study of processes that affect the remains of dead animals Paleoanthropology: study of ancient humans and their immediate ancestors Paleontology: study of ancient life through the fossil record Paleontology and paleoanthropology have established a time frame, or chronology, for evolution of life 4-15

16 RELATIVE DATING Relative dating: establishes time frame in relation to other strata or materials, rather than absolute dates in numbers Stratigraphy: examines ways in which earth sediments accumulate in layers known as strata Fluorine analysis: measures amount of fluorine absorbed by fossils from local groundwater Piltdown man hoax 4-16

17 ABSOLUTE DATING: RADIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES Absolute dating: establishes dates in numbers or ranges of numbers Carbon-14 (14C) dating based on known rates of radioactive decay; dates items up to 40,000 years old; used for organic remains Potassium argon (K/A) dating based on known rates of radioactive decay; dating for items more than 500,000 years old; used on inorganic substances Uranium Series between 1,000 and 1,000,000 years Thermoluminescence (TL) between 5,000 and 1,000,000 years Electron spin resonance (ESR) between 1,000 and 1,000,000 years 4-17

18 ABSOLUTE DATING: DENDROCHRONOLOGY Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating): a method of absolute dating based on the study and comparison of patterns of tree-ring growth (up to 11,000 years) provides information about climatic patterns in specific regions (wide rings versus narrow rings) Cross-dating: matching ring patterns among trees and assigning rings to specific calendar years 4-18

19 MOLECULAR ANTHROPOLOGY Molecular anthropology: uses genetic materials to date and to estimate evolutionary distance between species (humans and chimps have 98% of their DNA in common) Also reconstructs waves and patterns of migration and settlement Uses genetic clocks to estimate divergence time among different groups Humans, chimps, and gorillas separated 6-10 million years ago 4-19

20 RECAP 4.1: Absolute Dating Techniques 4-20

21 Bone biology Anthropometry Primatology KINDS OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 4-21

22 BONE BIOLOGY Bone biology: study of bone as a biological tissue (i.e. cell structure, growth, development, decay, and patterns of movement) Osteology: study of skeletal variation and its biological and social causes Paleopathology: study of disease and injury in skeletons from sites Forensic anthropology: work within legal context to recover, analyze, and identify human remains 4-22

23 ANTHROPOMETRY Anthropometry: measurement of human body parts and dimensions Body mass and composition Used to study nutrition, growth, and development 4-23

24 PRIMATOLOGY Primatology: subfield of biological anthropology; primate studies Primate social systems: suggest hypotheses about human behavior (what we do and do not share with our nearest living relative) Help to understand social life of ancient hominins 4-24

25 DOING ANTHROPOLOGY RIGHT AND WRONG: ETHICAL ISSUES Must be aware of ethical and legal contexts and value systems in which they are working Often requires physical anthropologists and archaeologists to work as members of international teams American Anthropological Association (AAA) advises by its Code of Ethics Must communicate with officials and colleagues in host country and negotiate details of research Primary ethical obligations are to the people, species, and materials they study 4-25

26 DOING ANTHROPOLOGY RIGHT AND WRONG: ETHICAL ISSUES Informed consent: people s agreement to take part in research after they have been fully informed about its purpose, nature, procedures, and potential impact Anthropologists should not exploit/endanger: Individuals Groups Animals Cultural or biological materials 4-26

27 DOING ANTHROPOLOGY RIGHT AND WRONG: ETHICAL ISSUES North American anthropologists working in other countries should: Include host country colleagues in their research planning and requests for funding Establish truly collaborative relationships Include host country colleagues in the dissemination of research results Ensure that something is given back to host country colleagues Ethical Issues - Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) - requires museums to return remains and artifacts to tribes that can prove cultural affiliation - Kennewick Man 4-27

28 THE CODE OF ETHICS American Anthropological Association (AAA) Code of Ethics Offers guidelines to promote discussion and education, rather than investigate possible misconduct 1. Obligations are to their scholarly field, to the wider society and culture, and to the human species, other species, and the environment; do no harm to the people, animals, or artifacts being studied 2. Should be open about research projects 3. Parties involved should be informed about the nature, procedures, purpose(s), potential impacts, and source(s) of support for the research 4. Should maintain proper relations between themselves and host nations and communities AAA does not advise anthropologists to avoid taking stands on issues (taking action may be as ethically justifiable as inaction) (i.e. female genital mutilation, infanticide, child brides). 4-28