Download AS Archaeology

A2 Archaeology
AQA Level 3
A2 Archaeology Units
► Unit
3: World Archaeology
 Section A
►
30% of A Level
 2hour exam
 90 marks
►2
Questions on Themes in World
Archaeology.
 Section B
►1
Question on Contemporary Issues in
World Archaeology
► Unit
4: Archaeology Investigation
 Coursework
► Internally
by AQA.
marked, externally moderated
►
20% of A Level
 3500-4000words
 60 marks
Unit 3 World Archaeology
► Overview
 Students are introduced to a range of themes in
world archaeology, building on skills and
knowledge learnt in the AS Units.
► Section
A: Themes in World Archaeology
 People and Society in the Past
 Sites and People in the Landscape
 Economies and Material Culture
► Section
B: Contemporary Issues in World
Archaeology
Today...
► Looking
at settlement sites and how we
study them
Settlement
► What
is a site?
 A site is an area of past human activity.
► Any
size or period from a single grave to an entire settlement.
► Also includes a cluster of artefacts.
► What
is a structure?
 A structure is a building of any size or function.
► Could
range from a few post holes to a standing building.
► Each requires its own method of excavation.
► Recording individual features (walls, floors, windows etc.) will
facilitate a reconstruction and interpretation of the structure
and its function.
Settlement
► What
is a settlement?
 A settlement is a group of structures and the spaces
associated with them used by a community over a
period of time.
► The
boundaries of the settlement are also important.
► May be transitory, semi-permanent or permanent.
► Can be studied by survey and/or excavation.
► What
is a landscape?
 For settlement archaeology, a landscape is the space
between individual settlements.
► Different
types e.g. social landscape, political landscape.
Sources of
archaeological
finds in
Denmark 19th
to 20th
Centuries.
Settlement Studies
►
1950s -
Pioneers like Gordon Willey
(settlement study in the Virú
Valley, Peru).
►
1960s -
“New Archaeology” & “New
Geography”, Lewis Binford.
►
1970s -
Spatial archaeology, D.L.
Clarke, Ian Hodder and Clive
Orton.
Settlement Studies
►
Bruce Trigger - 3 levels of settlement.
1. The building structure.
2. The arrangement of structures within individual
communities.
3. The distribution of communities across the landscape.
►
What are the main methods of the
discovery and field survey of sites and
settlements?
Settlement Studies
►What
are the main methods of the
discovery and field survey of sites and
settlements?
 SMR / NMR
 Old maps and
documents
 Local knowledge
 Aerial photography




GIS
Field walking
Field surveying
Geophysical
surveying.
GIS
Geographical Information
Systems.
GIS
►
►
►
►
►
GIS is a collection of computer hardware,
software, and geographic data for capturing,
managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of
geographically referenced information.
Makes use of data collected from a variety of
sources, including data from satellites.
Interprets information in a visual way.
Can be used to predict areas for prospection.
www.gis.com/
GIS
► Starts
with the blank canvas of the Earth.
► Adds layers of information which can be shown or
hidden as necessary.
► One layer might be the geology and another
human settlement.
► Layers have not remained static through time.
 For example, a vegetation layer needs dividing into time
periods.
► Information
can then be displayed
 Tables and charts but visually as a reconstruction.
Why is GIS useful to archaeology?
► Deals
with spatial data
 Excavations and survey
► Interpretation
is dependant on
understanding spatial relationships
► Recording relationships on maps/plans
 Able to compare them.
 Multiple scales
 Large regions
► Can
handle large amounts of data.
Avebury
Avebury
►
The data
 Basemap: Ordnance Survey 1:10000 raster.
 Archaeology: cleaned and enhanced Wiltshire County Council Sites and
Monuments Record.
 Height Data: Ordnance Survey Land-Form PROFILE and EH Survey
Services data.
 Aerial Photographs: 1:10000 vertical colour imagery.
 Satellite Data: KVR 1000 Russian satellite imagery (ground resolution
around 1.5 - 3m).
 Land Use: only select areas so far.
 Land Ownership: areas owned by the National Trust.
 Survey Coverage: linked to an associated text database. Shows areas
of geophysical survey, fieldwalking, augering and test-pitting.
 Flint Density Distribution: results collated from various fieldwalking
surveys.
 Roads and Boundaries: including the extents of scheduled monument
areas.
A shaded Digital Terrain Model
(DTM) of Avebury.
Avebury
(Aerial photo over a digital elevation model)
Changing landscapes
► Important
to think about geology when
examining Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites.
 These periods witnessed great climatic changes
(the Ice Age).
 Ice melting caused the sea level to rise and
sites and the land bridge with the Continent
was lost to the sea.
 The topography and coastline changed.
Historic Landscapes
► Historic
landscapes can also be recreated
using a mixture of:
 Archaeology
 Field survey
 Written records.
Reconstructing Past Landscapes
► Archaeology
has moved from ‘site to
settlement to landscape archaeology’.
 This study is in its infancy.
 It is a way of examining the relationship
between human societies of the past and their
environment.
Settlement Patterns
►How
do people choose where to settle?
 Today?
Israeli settlement on the
West bank
 In the past?
European settlers in New Zealand
How do people choose where to
settle?
► Today?
 Close to amenities
► Schools,
jobs, shops, hospitals, religious houses, entertainment,
etc.
 Good transport links
► Buses,
trains, road networks, ferries, airports etc.
 Close to family & friends
► Visiting
► Looking
after relatives
 Environment
► Rural
/ urban
 Incentives
► Financial
help
How do people choose where to
settle?
► In
the past?
 Close to amenities
► Fresh
water, good hunting grounds, arable land, fishing
locations, woodland, ritual locations, markets etc.
 Good transport links
► Coastal
locations, rivers & streams, roads?
 Close to family & friends
► Visiting
► Looking
after relatives
 Environment
► Hilltop
for defence, woodlands / coastal for resources
 Incentives
► Resources
► Expansion
of territory
Settlement Patterns
► An
investigation of settlement patterns is a branch
of spatial analysis in archaeology.
► Distribution patterns used to study ancient human
relationship with the environment.
► Settlement patterns are studied by plotting all the
known sites onto maps (or GIS).
 Only contemporary sites
 Categorise settlements
► Size
& Hierarchy (if known) – village, town, city etc.
 Boundary & territory
 Similar depth of investigation for all areas to prevent
biased or unbalanced distribution patterns.
Classification
of Societies
(Renfrew &
Bahn,2000:
175)
Site Status
► Settlement
may be ranked in a similar way to
social groups.
► Settlements are often excavated as individual
unique areas – but this is only part of the story:  Link with other settlements through social, political or
economic ties.
 Does not include settlement hierarchy.
 Size / scale of buildings in the settlement is important.
 Social and economic relationship of the society which
occupied them is more important.
► Interaction
of: -
 Humans and their environment.
 Humans and humans.
Rhos-on-Sea
Old Colwyn
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay
Conwy
Cardiff
London
Europe
Colwyn Heights
Site Status
► Possible





site categories
Regional centre
Local centre
Nucleated village
Dispersed village
Hamlet
► Based
on size, chronological range (finds
and features) etc.
Evolution of settlements
► Not
static and tend to evolve.
► They
grow in size.
 Linear patterns.
 Growing outwards from a nucleus (nuclear).
► Sometimes,
the opposite happens (site
abandonment).
Central Place Theory
► Developed
by a German geographer Walter
Christaller in the 1930s.
 Explained spacing and functions of cities & towns in
modern southern Germany.
 Argued that:
In a uniform landscape (no mountains, rivers etc. to get in the
way) the spatial patterning of settlements would be perfectly
regular.
► Central places of the same size and nature would be situated
equi-distance from each other surrounded by a constellation of
secondary centres with their own smaller satellites.
► Hexagonal patterns.
►
Key:City
Town
Village
Hamlet
Central Place Theory
► Perfect
conditions do not occur in nature.
► However, it is possible to detect some form
of this theory in ancient cities and towns.
 Major centres will be some distance from
neighbouring cities.
 Surrounded by ring of lesser settlements in a
hierarchical nested pattern.
 Major centres then supply goods and services to
surrounding area expecting something in return.
Site Hierarchy
► Sites
usually ranked by size.
 Less main centres (cities), more small settlements
(villages and hamlets).
► Can
be displayed in a histogram.
 Ease of comparison:
► Different
► The
regions, periods, types of society.
type of society will determine the variation
and size of sites.
► “The
more hierarchical the settlement pattern, the
more hierarchical the society.”
(Refrew&Bahn,2000:179).
Thiessen Polygons
► Geometric
shapes that divide an area into a
number of different territories
 Each focussed on a single site.
 Straight lines between neighbouring sites.
 Then, at the mid-point along each of these lines a
second series of lines, at right-angles to the first.
► Problems:
-
 Doesn’t take into account difference in status of sites.
► So
only use for sites of equal rank (status).
 Also doesn’t work unless sites are contemporary.
Key: City
XTENT Modelling
► Aims
to assign territories to centres depending
on their scale.
 Something the other theories didn’t do.
► Assumes
a large centre will dominate over nearby
small centres.
 Territory of small site is absorbed into larger ones
territory.
► Assumes
size of centre is directly proportional to
its area of influence.
 Bell or bell tent shape.
► If
two centres areas of influence overlap the
bigger centre dominates.
Case Study: Mesopotamia
► Diyala
region of Mesopotamia (east of
Bagdad in modern Iraq).
► Work by Gregory Johnson.
 39 settlements from Early Dynastic period (c.
2800BC).
 From 25 hectares (60 acres) to one-tenth of a
hectare (0.25 acres).
 5 categories – large towns, towns, large
villages, small villages & hamlets.
Diyala
region,
Iraq
Early
Dynastic
Period
Idealised CPT & Best Fit CPT
Hierarchy,
Warka
area,
Late Uruk
Period.
XTENT
model
territories,
Warka
area,
Late Uruk
Period.
Four or Five centres emerge.
Homework!!!
Due Thur Oct 13th
(two weeks time)
Make a plan of your
personal study.