Archaeological research has been done at Thomas Jefferson's second home, Poplar Forest.
The lives of slaves were investigated at this location.
Four slave cabins were excavated.
A single house was uncovered, which pre-dated Jefferson's residence.
The Poplar Forest plantation provisioned the enslaved with food, cloth for clothing, bedding, and blankets.
Women who married at the plantation were given a cook pot and a bed as a reward.
Jefferson purchased garden produce and animal products from the slave quarters.
The staple meat in the diet of the slaves was pork.
At Poplar Forest, archaeology provides some of the details of everyday life that are missing in historical accounts.
The slaves often had to build and furnish their own quarters.
Gardening, gathering, and hunting provided food and promoted traditional dietary and medicinal practices.
Items of personal adornment were purchased and worn, perhaps as a means of identifying one's self amid the anonymity of slavery.
Slaves generated some income by selling produce from gardens, chicken coops, and other private endeavors.
Archaeology is a kind of time machine for visiting the millennia that have gone before.
The principles of archaeology provide a means for looking into the past.
There are certain guiding principles that provide a foundation for the natural sciences and for archaeology in particular.
The scientific method and the theory of evolution are baselines of archaeological research.
The scientific method is a technique for eliminating incorrect answers in our search for an understanding of the past.
The scientific method is a means for evaluating our ideas and insuring that explanations are accurate.
The scientific method does not lead to truth, but to a clearer understanding of the phenomenon under investigation.
The scientific method insures that bad ideas are eliminated through experimentation and testing.
In archaeology, the scientific method helps to focus our understanding of the past.
Evolution is the fundamental theory in the biological sciences.
It explains the rise and current state of life on earth.
Evolution involves mutation and natural selection, along with other mechanisms.
Archaeology Is . . .
Archaeology is the source of information about our human past.
Archaeology is both a popular pastime and an academic discipline and involves both amateur and professional practitioners.
Archaeology can be found on popular television and in obscure scientific journals.
Archaeology is the study of our human past, using the material remains that have survived.
Archaeology focuses on past human behavior and change in society over time.
Archaeologists study past human culture across time and space.
Archaeology is the investigation of the choices that our ancestors have made as they evolved from the first humans to the historical present.
In the United States, for historical reasons, archaeology is usually part of a Department of Anthropology.
Biological anthropology is the study of the biological nature of our nearest relatives and ourselves.
Cultural, or social, anthropologists study living peoples.
Linguistics is the study of human languages.
Archaeology in anthropology departments is sometimes designated as anthropological archaeology, or prehistory.
Anthropological archaeology refers specifically to archaeological investigations that seek to answer the larger, fundamental questions about humans and human behavior that are part of anthropological enquiry.
Prehistory refers to the time of humans before the written record placed us in history.
Many archaeologists do study prehistory, but many also study literate societies and the urban civilizations.
Historical archaeology is archaeology in combination with the written record.
Archaeology can also be taught in a Department of Classics or Art History or Religious Studies.
Classical archaeology is concerned with the literate Mediterranean civilizations of Greece and Rome.
Biblical archaeology, focused on past places and things in the Holy Land, can be found in Departments of Religion.
An important distinction in archaeology is made between academic archaeology and cultural resource management (CRM).
Environmental impact studies are required to determine whether important archaeological or historical sites are in danger of destruction prior to the start of federally funded construction.
Cultural resource management is an important part of the field of archaeology.
Archaeology is Not . . .
There are many misconceptions about the past and about archaeology.
This is due, in part, to an absence of knowledge and in part to the presence of charlatans and the popularity of pseudoscience.
It is important to emphasize the importance of questioning, criticism, and proof in discussions of the past.
There are hundreds of examples of fraudulent finds from the past.
Sometimes professional archaeologists are fooled as well.
Example: The Piltdown Man
Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward presented their discoveries of fossil remains in 1912.
Their finds included part of a thick human skull, a fragment of an ape-like lower jaw, some animal remains, and even early stone tools.
They estimated these fossils to be 500,000 years old.
Piltdown was a forgery.
For 40 years the remains were accepted as important.
Piltdown was proclaimed the "missing link" by several of the most important British scientists of the day.
Piltdown was debunked many years later.
Chemical tests showed that the skull and jaw were neither the same age nor very old.
The bones had been heavily stained and chemically treated to make them appear ancient.
Diagnostic anatomical features were broken off or filed down to change the appearance of the jaw.
The identity of the perpetrator(s) of the forgery is still debated.
Example: Erich von Däniken
Von Däniken has been at the forefront of alien archaeology.
He argues that many prehistoric monuments were actually built by aliens who visited Earth in the past.
Von Däniken has even claimed that god was an ancient astronaut.
Although his claims are demonstrably fraudulent, von Däniken's words continue to enthrall many readers and viewers.
Evaluating Science and Pseudoscience
An essential distinction must be made between science and pseudoscience.
Science is a method for evaluating the correctness of explanations.
Pseudoscience is a technique for creating "truth".
Pseudoscience is false science, based either on deceit or belief, not observation.
Pseudoscience avoids or disavows the scientific method and makes unsubstantiated claims to truth.
Scientific Method
Science is a method for seeking the real nature of the Universe through observation and experimentation.
Science seeks to falsify or disprove hypotheses, rather than prove them.
The scientific method is one of critique; all ideas are assumed to be wrong until proven otherwise.
Science is careful evaluation.
The scientific method usually begins with an observation.
An idea or a guess, a hypothesis, about how or why that happens is put forth.
The hypothesis is evaluated.
If the hypothesis passes the test it can become a theory, not a truth.
A theory is just a generally accepted explanation.
Archaeologists use science in their inquiries.
The science of archaeology lies in bridging the gap between the information we recover and the questions we seek to answer.
Science in archaeology is really an argument by enumeration or an accumulation of evidence, rather than by experimentation.
What makes archaeology a science is the testing or evaluation of the answers we find to be confident they are not wrong.
The scientific method is used in archaeology.
The scientific method is a research strategy that begins with the formulation of the problem or question.
Ideas or possible answers to the question are then proposed.
Archaeologists conduct fieldwork and undertake a variety of analyses to evaluate the hypothetical answers.
Fieldwork and analysis generate new questions and new answers.
The process spirals, eliminating wrong answers and constantly asking new questions.
Answers that appear to be correct are made public to a wide audience.
Evolution
Evolution is one of the fundamental concepts in natural and biological science.
Evolution is a scientific theory which best explains the existence of life on earth.
The evolution of life on earth is marked by biological evolution from one species to another to adapt to new conditions.
The theory of natural selection was formulated by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Darwin coined the term natural selection to account for the increase in offspring of those individuals who survived from one generation to the next.
Darwin introduced the concept in his 1859 publication On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Darwin pointed out that all organisms produce more offspring than can survive and that the individuals that survive do so because of certain advantageous characteristics they possess.
This basic process gave rise to the myriad creatures that occupy the world today.
Evolutionary theory can be modified over time, but the basic tenets of this view have withstood many tests and offer the best way to understand the emergence of life and early humans.
Culture is a means for human adaptation based on experience, learning, and the use of tools.
The prehistoric record of our ancestors is characterized by both biological evolution and cultural development.
Biological, rather than cultural, changes dominated our first several million years of existence.
The last hundred thousand years or so of our existence are marked primarily by cultural changes rather than biological ones.
Evolution and Creationism
Evolution is both fact and theory.
The evidence for evolution—fossil, anatomical, genetic—is so strong that it is also fact.
Exactly how evolution operated in the past is not always clear, which means that the mechanisms of evolution involve theory.
Almost all archaeologists and other scientists affirm the validity of an evolutionary perspective.
Creationists believe that the earth and its creatures were created by God.
Biblical creation is an origin myth, one of many different stories that cultures around the world use to explain their beginnings.
Many creationists believe that God made the earth and all the animals as they exist today in a period of seven days.
Creationists cite several arguments against evolution.
Most major religious groups have accepted the fact that evolution is not at odds with their view of creation and human origins.
Why Study Archaeology?
Curiosity about the past is one basic reason to learn about archaeology.
Public opinion in the United States is very positive with regard to archaeology.
The fascination with archaeology stems from the inherent significance of the subject.
To know our place and to have confidence about where we are going is an essential ingredient for the success of our species.
Understanding our past is essential to understanding our place in nature.
For most of our human career, we have lived as gatherers and /or hunters.
Our earliest ancestors appeared more than six million years ago in Africa.
The first groups of farmers have been found in western Asia around 11,000 years ago.
Hunter-gatherers have continued to exist at the margins of modern society until very recently.
The role of archaeology ultimately is to describe the course of human development, to tell us about our origins.
That knowledge can provide pride and confidence in our species, along with a much greater awareness of our oneness.
Archaeology has the opportunity to greatly extend the fundamental contributions that have been made to human knowledge and society.
Careers in Archaeology
There are many different ways to participate in archaeology.
People can learn about the subject by watching television, reading a book, visiting a museum, or touring an archaeological site.
Those with more serious interest can pursue a career in archaeology.
Degrees in archaeology are offered by academic departments in colleges and universities.
Undergraduate students interested in archaeology usually take courses in anthropology, geography, geology, zoology, botany, soils, and the like to learn basic information about the discipline and related fields.
Participation in fieldwork is an important activity at all levels in one's education in archaeology.
Interested undergraduate students apply to Graduate School during their senior year or soon after graduation.
Many students obtain a Master's degree in archaeology.
This involves one to three years of coursework on average and may require a written thesis as well.
Many programs include a comprehensive examination at the end of the Master's curriculum.
The goal is to instill a broad general knowledge about the field that will allow them to perform well in the discipline.
The Doctor of Philosophy [PhD] degree takes an average of 7.5 years, including the Masters.
The intent is to provide specialized knowledge of particular areas of archaeology and to demonstrate exceptional research skills.
The major part of PhD studies involves research.
Individuals with advanced degrees can pursue many different options.
Some work as professors, curators, professional archaeologists, and park rangers.
Survey Says . . .
Knowing what archaeologists do and how they do it is essential to understand the discipline.
Information about archaeologists was compiled in 1994.
Approximately 36.5% of the respondents were female.
American archaeology is a profession with few minorities.
About 38 percent were employed in colleges and universities, about 10% in museums, 18% in government agencies, and another 24% in private firms, leaving about 10% as students or unemployed.
Salaries are good in the private sector.
A Day in the Life . . .
Examining the a typical day for different archaeologists provides a good sense of what the profession entails.
Tina Thurston is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Maureen Kavanagh is Chief of the Office of Archaeology for the Maryland Historical Trust.
Anne Underhillis an Associate Curator of Asian Anthropology at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
