What Is The Context Of Archaeology?

An archaeologist’s main concern is the preservation and explanation of artefacts and sites and its archaeological record. The ability to reconstruct the past is a journey to comprehend the ways of life in another time on earth. Archaeologists are the translators of the past through learning and understanding the language with an array of mediums. How Archaeologist achieve this is by establishing context behind these artefacts in order for interpretation. An artefact becomes valueless without its context, it significance is lost and comes to be just another object pulled out of the ground or found on a cave wall. Context allows archaeologists to construct interpretation. Interpretation is crucial as it is the story behind the find, the context

Water based conditions are more kind in preserving wooden objects and botanical material for example remaining shipwrecks (Fagan, 1972). Artefacts in dry conditions are the perfect environment for perseveration whether that be in humid or extreme cold. Moisture enables the process of decomposition and Bactria which destroys all organic materials. A prime example of a matrix is the Laetoli footprints. Discovered by Mary Leakey in 1978 in Tanzania (Morris, 1997), the Laetoli footprints are the footprints of early Hominins dating back 3.6 – 3.75 million years ago (Renfrew & Bahn, 1991). Renfrew and Bahn (1991) explains that the preservation of the artefact, being the footprints, was the matrix surrounding it, the volcanic ash on the ground, the footprints of the early Australopithecines was set by the rainfall allowing the mud to set hard enough to last over three million years. All these elements created the matrix for the preservation of one the greatest early hominid activity. The matrix provides the archaeologist with context towards how the object persevered over time and why it did remain in condition. Provenience is an

To interpret something is to determine what it means, a translator is necessary because they determine the meaning of something in a different language or medium. Archaeologists are essentially translators, and in the way that interpretation is fundamentally about meaning. An archaeologist can only speculate an objects purpose and interpretation is ultimately founded on archaeological data. A translator conveys the sense or meaning of something which is in a different language or medium. Note, however, that translation is not a simple and mechanical act but involves careful judgement as to appropriate shades of meaning, often taking account of context, idiom and gesture which can seriously affect the meaning of words taken on their own. A translator may be an interlocutor or go between. Interpretation contains the idea of mediation, of conveying meaning from one party to another. An interpreter aims to provide a reciprocity of understanding, overcoming the lack of understanding or semantic distance between two parties who speak different languages or belong to different cultures. Interpretation is concerned with dialogue, facilitating and making easier. Interpretation implies the exchange or building from what there is here to something beyond. Hermeneutics is the theoretical and philosophical field of meaning and achievement of sense of understanding. Hermeneutics