Introduction:
Reconstructed paleoenvironments are important because they allow archaeologists to give a setting for anthropological stories which allows for better understanding of what the people needed and what was available to them to meet these needs. This reconstruction is greatly aided by geoarchaeological methods such as X-Ray Diffraction, stratigraphy, particle size distribution, micro-material studies, micromorphology, Magnetic Susceptibility, and palynologic studies (Alam et al., 2008; Balbo et al. 2006; Boomer et al., 2007; Boyd, 2007; Bubenzer et al., 2007; Eitel et al., 2005; Ellwood et al., 2001; Farrand, 2001; Haynes, 2001; Hong et al., 2009, Hyoun Soo et al., 2007; Parker et al., 2006; Karkanas, 2001; Stanley et al., 2008; Tankersley et al., 2010). First, an explanation of these methods will be given, then three examples of how archaeologists use geoarchaeology to recreate paleoenviroments and why each recreation is important. The three example sites are Dongnimdong in South Korea, Awafi in the United Arab Emirates, and Polje Čepić in Croatia.
Methods:
X-Ray Diffraction is a method used to identify crystalline substances. When crystal structures are hit with X-Rays the amount of diffraction can be measured and used to produce a pattern. Every crystalline material has a unique pattern of which extensive databases have been made. These databases can then be used to identify unknown substances in a sample. Sourcing sediments using the presence and intensity of heavy minerals and approximating paleoclimates using clay components are both important uses of X-Ray Diffraction for reconstructing paleoenvironments geoarchaeologically (Alam et al., 2008; Farrand, 2001; Hong et al., 2009; Tankersley et al., 2010).
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...ractices (Balbo et al., 2006). This site is similar to the Korean site in the way it helps archaeologists understand the changes man made to his environment when first developing agriculture. Understanding paleoenviroments is not only important for this reason but also because it allows for the natural state to be observed.
Conclusion:
Reconstructing paleoenviroments and the changes that have occurred in them is very important for archaeology as it shows the original state of nature that man evolved in, the changes we then made, and the processes that created the environment we now inhabit. Geoarchaeological methods are relatively simple, accurate ways of puzzling out the contingents of paleoenviroments. You cannot understand the cultures of the past without understanding the world of the past and these methods are the most apt to help archaeologists do so.
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"Sedimentary Rocks." Backyard Nature with Jim Conrad. N.p., 18 May 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Processual Archaeology, was a movement in the archaeological field that began in the 1960‘s and changed the course of archaeology forever. Anthropologists such as Julian Steward were absolutely influential on many archaeologists and anthropologists during the early 1960s with his theories of cultural ecology which established a scientific way of understanding cultures as human adaption to the surrounding environment (Steward, 1955: 36-38). It was approaches such as Stewards that led eventually led to a rejection of culture-historical approaches to the archaeological record and propelled the ideas of cultural evolution and its reaction with the environment. This approach to cultural systems was essentially a rejection of the culture-historical approach of determinism by suggesting that the environment influences culture but is not a deterministic feature and that both culture and the environment were two separate systems that are dependent on each other for change (Steward, 1955: 36).
archaeology (digs for artifacts, examinations of burial sites, close study of ancient constructions such as the cliff dwellings of the western United States, or the mounds left by the mound-builder peoples of the southeastern United States); comparative religion and folklore -- the study of creation myths, legends, and folktales told by Indian peoples; medicine -- tracing such biological factors as human bloodtypes to show how different peoples (the Aztec, the Comanche, the Seminole, the Kwakiutl) may well share a common ancestry, or studying the differing responses of Indian and European peoples to diseases to illustrate how contact between the cultures occasionally proved fatal to the indigenous culture; geology, climatology, and ecology -- to reconstruct the land as the Indians found it, to identify the ways they lived off the land and in harmony with it, and to provide a basis for comparison between Indian and European understandings of the relationship between human beings and the natural world;
Evolution can be seen throughout all aspects of life, but for each aspect evolution does not occur in the same process. In his article entitled “Natural Selection, Scale, and Cultural Evolution,” Dunnell emphasizes and explains why evolution has made such a small impact on archaeology. Cultural evolution and biological evolution are not the same. Biological evolution uses theoretical propositions that explain the mechanisms of biological adaptation and evolution. The laws of cultural evolution “are not theoretical propositions but rather empirical generalizations” (Dunnell, 1996: 25). Cultural evolution does not explain the differences among the occurrences cultural phenomena. Dunnell’s main goal is to effectively formulate ways to integrate evolutionary characteristics and anthropological theory (Dunnell, 1996).
The Minoan archaeology is one which was surrounded by numerous controversies and this can be considered to be incomplete without the overall understanding of Sir Arthur Evans. The Minoan archaeology on its own has been present for several years however a true understanding of the culture and the culture was brought to life due to the efforts by Sir Arthur Evans. Heinrich Schliemann on the other hand was focused on the Mycenaean culture. Both these scholars were known to make a number of alterations to the artifacts, however for very different reasons and rationale. The main aim of this paper is to discuss their position in each culture and to discuss the possible rationale that these individuals had for making the alterations.
At this point in the Paleolithic Era, technology and politics coexisted in harmony; one did not dominate the other, nor did one influence the other. Their technology was simple. The...
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An important communication tool was utilized during the Neolithic time. Cave drawings are essential to archeologists today because it is man’s method to illustrate the story of evolution. The symbols, colors, and locations will catch the eye of many, but the ultimate question still remains. How do the cave and rock drawings connect to the prehistoric times? Why is it important? Where is it located? The importance of Art presents archeologist with a picture into the Past. From Cave and rock art, to the preservation of the paintings, to finally the meaning behind the art, archeologists then can discover how people lived and what it was like back then.
Therefore, it’s difficult to start a conversation between geologists, archaeologists and historians. It’s vital to narrow the research prospects in these fields but also I think there needs to be more scientific discourse between different fields that affect each other in one way or another. The human historical paradigm is grounded in the research of archaeology. However, Hancock debates that the field of geology has more to teach humans about our history than we think. He debates that around 15,000 to 8,000 BC, during the last ice age, an unprecedented world-wide cataclysm was overlooked that led to the extinction of countless species, including the megafauna (Hancock
Jurmaln, R., Kilgore, L., & Trevathan, W. (2011). Essentials of physical anthropology. (9th ed., p. 5). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
10.) Archaeology - is the study of the remains of human behaviour in the past. It usually involves excavating sites where such remains including artifacts and ecofacts, can be found.
Archaeologists are scattered across the gamut. Considering knowledge of human past is valuable to numerous academic disciplines. Varieties of archaeological application include: cultural resource management, heritage conservation, historic preservation,
The field of geology has many different branches. Some of these areas have hardly anything in common. The one thing that they all include, though, is that each one concentrates on some part of the Earth, its makeup, or that of other planets. Mineralogy, the study of minerals above the Earth and in its crust, is different from Petrology, the st...