History of Archaeology

• The first archaeologists– Antiquarians or wealthy collectors

of artifacts

• Early Archaeology– It was a combination of several

other sciences concerned with the evolution of man.

• 1817– Danish archaeologist Christian

Jurgensen Thomsen opened the National Museum of Antiquities in Copenhagen to the public.

• 1859 Origin of Species. – Darwin publishes his book.

• 1920’s– Archaeology became a fully

fledged scientific discipline.

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen

Charles

Darwin

Modern Scientific Archaeology

1960’s• The invention of modern

scientific excavation techniques

• Using a multidisciplinary approach to study people.

• Increasing impact of science on archaeology

• Refinement of archaeological theory.

Dendrochronology

Botany

DNA

Culture: Any learned behavior that is shared with others.

Culture:• Culture is a theoretical concept to

describe humankind’s external adaptation – to natural environment. – A set of designs for living in different

situations

• In Archaeology a culture is an assemblage of artefacts found at several sites and defined in a precise context of time and space

Types of organization• Band

• Tribe

• Chiefdom

• State

Types of organization

Band: – a local group– little or no specialization in

political structure– Hunting-gathering subsistence– Small, egalitarian communities

Types of organizationTribe:• Sometimes multi-local political

orgs.• Little or no specialization of

political officials• Extensive and shifting

hunting/gathering, agriculture, or herding (domesticated/wild)

• Small, low density communities• Egalitarian• Reciprocity

Types of organizationChiefdom:• Multi-local political org.

• Some specialized political officials• Extensive agriculture and/or herding• Large communities w/ medium density

• Ranked societies• Both reciprocity and redistribution

Types of organizationStates:• Multi-local political org. by language

group • many specialized political officials• Intensive agriculture and/or herding• Large communities in towns or cities w/

high density• Class societies (castes)• Market exchanges

STEP 1

STEP 4

STEP 3

STEP 2

Archaeological Data Acquisition and Evaluation

Elaboration and Analysis

Simulating Processes

Reconstruction

Scientific explanatory process

• The history of archaeological method is of a discipline which has used sophisticated technologies in the search for and understanding of archaeological sites.

Timber Castle

Roman villa

Temple or roman villa Necropoli

Hillfort

Roman villa

Roman villa

Field walking survey Grid collection (phisical and virtual)

GPS position ofspecific surfacefindings and fielddata integration

Mapping the path of surveyed areas,

etc…

DEM generated fromThe DGPS survey of the area

Draping of the oblique

Draping of the grad s.

Draping of the interpratation

Urban Stratigraphy of Modena

Territory

TIME

Population

Resources

Archaeology as science • Scientific method including identification of

research problem, theoretical basis for research, hypotheses, test implications, confirmation, testability, explanation.

• Science involves rigorous analysis of a fair test of alternative explanations using specific criteria; explanations are confirmed by multiple lines of evidence.

• Archaeology seeks to understand social or culture behavior through a scientific method.

fase finale della Media età del Bronzo (1450 a.C.)

Redù

RastellinoGaggio

S. Agata

Pradella??

Examples of:

•THEMATIC MAPS

• SPATIAL and STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

• MODELING

MODELLING / PREDICTION / DECISION MAKING