Archaeology in Practice

Jane Balme is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Western Australia, where her research specializes in hunter-gatherer archaeology and the human colonization of Australia. Balme co-edited Gendered Archaeology: The Second Australian Women in Archaeology Conference (with Wendy Beck, 1995). Alistair Paterson is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Western Australia. His research and teaching specialize in culture contact, historical archaeology in maritime and terrestrial contexts, European colonization, ancient rock art, and archaeological and historical methodology. He is the author of A Millennium of Cultural Contact (2011) and The Lost Legions: Culture Contact in Colonial Australia (2008).

Chapter Abstracts xvii

Preface and Acknowledgments xxi

Notes on Contributors xxv

List of Tables xxix

List of Figures xxx

1 Collaborating with Stakeholders 1
Larry J. Zimmerman and Kelly M. Branam

Introduction 1

What and Who Is an Archaeological Stakeholder? 2

Collaboration Comes in Many Forms 4

Learning to Work with Stakeholders: A Discipline’s Journey 7

Differing Ways of Knowing the Past 11

True or valid? 11

How can there be different versions of the same past? 12

General Thoughts about How to Consult with Stakeholders 13

Building trust takes time 14

Use ethnography 15

Specific Issues and Concerns 15

Differential power levels 15

Competing claims 15

Informed consent 17

When pasts conflict 18

What do you do if things go wrong? 18

Owning the Past 19

Where to from Here? 19

Acknowledgments 20

Further Reading 20

References 21

2 Stratigraphy 26
Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson

Introduction 26

What Is Stratigraphy? 27

Why Do Archaeologists Study Stratification? 27

How Do Different Layers Occur in Archaeological Sites? 27

Principles (or Laws) of Stratigraphy 29

Sources of disturbance 30

Excavation and Stratigraphy 32

Recording Stratifi cation 33

The Harris Matrix: Interpreting the spatial record 34

Creating Analytical Units 37

Case Study 2.1: Sos Höyük 38

Conclusions 44

Acknowledgments 44

Further Reading 44

Excavation 44

Stratigraphy and formation processes 44

References 44

3 Sediments 47
Anthony Barham and Gary Huckleberry

Introduction 47

Why Study Soils and Sediments? 48

Sediments and Soils – Defi ning Concepts and Terms 50

Field Description and Sampling 51

Broad principles which should be applied during sediment sampling and description 53

Laboratory Techniques 54

Granulometry 55

pH (acidity/alkalinity) 60

Color 62

Organic matter 63

Phosphorus 65

Case Study 3.1: Prehistoric Canals in the American Southwest 67

Case Study 3.2: Kennewick Man, Washington State, United States 72

Conclusions 76

Further Reading 77

References 77

4 Absolute Dating 85
Simon Holdaway

Introduction 85

Chronometry 86

Radiocarbon 86

Dendrochronology 90

Isotopic methods 91

Radiogenic methods 92

Chemical and biological methods 94

Geomorphic methods 95

Limits on Chronometric Techniques 96

Maximum limits 96

Minimum limits 98

Limits on radiogenic techniques 100

Precision 101

From Age Measurement to Chronology 101

Temporal Resolution and Behavioral Variation 103

Fidelity and resolution 104

Bayesian analysis 105

Time averaging 106

Case Study 4.1: Bone Cave 108

Time perspectivism 110

Conclusion 110

Acknowledgments 111

Further Reading 111

References 111

5 Rock Art 118
Jo McDonald

Introduction 118

What Is Rock Art? 118

How is Rock Art Made? 119

Classification 120

How Is Rock Art Recorded? 122

Photography 123

Drawing and sketching 124

Tracing 124

Counting 127

How and Why Is Rock Art Analyzed? 128

Informed Methods 129

Formal (or Structural) Methods 129

Statistical techniques 130

Spatial distribution analysis 130

Information exchange and stylistic heterogeneity 131

Diachronic change 131

Dating Rock Art 132

Relative dating 132

Scientific techniques 135

Gender and Rock Art 135

Case Study 5.1: The Depiction of Species in Macropod Track Engravings 136

Concluding Remarks 142

Resources 142

Key associations and journals 143

Further Reading 143

References 143

6 An Introduction to Stone Artifact Analysis 151
Chris Clarkson and Sue O’Connor

Introduction 151

An overview 151

Analyzing Stone Artifacts 167

Research design 167

Classifying an assemblage of stone artifacts 168

Choosing attributes to record and measure 173

Managing data 176

Measuring extent of reduction 177

Dealing with diffi cult assemblages 187

Archaeometry 191

Determining the type and fl aking properties of stone 192

Sourcing stone artifacts 192

Is 3D the future of lithic analysis? 193

Conclusion 194

Acknowledgments 195

Further Reading 195

References 195

7 Ceramics 207
Linda Ellis

Introduction 207

What Is a “Ceramic?” 209

How Is Pottery Made? 210

Clay preparation 210

Object formation 211

Prefire decoration 211

Firing 212

Postfire treatment 212

Handling of Ceramics during and after Excavation 213

Careful excavating 213

Cleaning ceramics 214

Marking ceramics 214

Repairing ceramics 215

Initiating an Analytical Program for Ceramics 215

Prefatory issues before undertaking an analytical program 216

Quantitative analysis of ceramics 216

Sampling for laboratory analysis 219

How to begin analysis and select an appropriate analytical method 220

Areas of Ceramics Research and Their Analytical Approaches 221

Technology studies 224

Identifying the people producing and using ceramics 225

Dating of ceramics 226

Sourcing of ceramics 227

Usewear and use-life studies of ceramics 228

Conclusion 229

Resources 229

References 229

8 Residues and Usewear 232
Richard Fullagar

Introduction 232

Functional Analysis 233

Methodology, Experiments, and Procedures 234

Microscopes 238

Artifact Cleaning 239

Plant Residues Found on Artifacts 241

Starch 241

Raphides 242

Phytoliths 242

Resin, gums, waxes, and other exudates 243

Animal Residues Found on Artifacts 243

Hair and feathers 243

Blood 243

Bone 245

Shell 245

Usewear 245

Scarring or edge fracturing 246

Striations 246

Polish 249

Edge rounding 249

Beveling 249

Postdepositional damage 250

Hafting traces 250

Residues on Grinding Stones and Potsherds 250

Case Study 8.1: Starch Grains Analysis of Residues on Grinding Stones 251

Case Study 8.2: Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis of Archaeological Residues (by Elyse Beck and Peter Grave) 252

Discussion and Conclusion 253

Acknowledgments 255

Further Reading 255

References 255

9 Animal Bones 264
Terry O’Connor and James Barrett

Introduction 264

Look Before You Dig 265

Sampling and Recovery 269

Bagging and Tagging 277

Working Facilities 279

Making the Record 282

Identification: Whose Bone Is This? 283

What Has Happened to These Bones? 285

Who Was This Animal? 286

Preparing for the Research Phase 291

And Finally 293

References 294

10 Human Remains 300
Charlotte Roberts

Introduction: Why Study Human Remains and How It Has Developed 300

Ethics and Human Remains 304

Taphonomy, funerary context, and excavation and their effect on analysis and interpretation 306

Care of human remains during and after excavation 307

Detection 308

Excavation 308

Cleaning the remains once excavated 310

Curation of human remains 311

The starting point: basic analysis and interpretation 312

Sex and age at death 313

Paleodemography 316

Normal and Abnormal Variation 317

Normal variation 317

Abnormal variation 320

Methods 322

Studies of the Health of Populations 323

Specific Studies of Disease 324

Macroscopic 324

Biomolecular 324

Using Multiple Methods to Answer Questions on Past Health 326

Conclusion 328

Resources 328

References 329

11 Plant Remains 336
Wendy Beck and Emilie Dotte-Sarout

Introduction: A Scene (by Wendy Beck) 336

Macroscopic Plant Remains 337

What Can Plant Remains Contribute to Archaeology? 338

The relationship between people and plants 338

Plants and technology 339

Plants and regional subsistence 339

Archaeological theories and plants 340

What Are the Problems (and Solutions) for Identifying and Interpreting Macroscopic Plant Remains? 341

Technical problems in analyzing macroplants and their solutions 341

Archaeological sources 341

Ethnobotanical and ethnoarchaeological sources 341

What Kinds of Methods Can Be Effectively Used to Retrieve and Analyze Plant Remains? 342

Basic plant classification 344

Archaeological retrieval and identification of seeds, nuts, and fruits (carpology) 346

Wood and charcoal (anthracology) 346

More problems in the analysis of plant remains 346

Case Study 11.1: Plant Remains from Kawambarai Cave, Near Coonabarabran, Eastern Australia (by Wendy Beck and Dee Murphy) 349

Conclusion 354

Further Reading 355

References 355

12 Shell Middens and Mollusks 361
Sandra Bowdler

Introduction 361

Background 363

The Creation of Middens 363

The Identification of Middens 364

Field Procedures 366

Dating Middens 370

Laboratory Procedures 370

Hand Sorting into Components 371

Shellfish Analysis 372

Identification of Shellfish and Other Species 373

Further Analysis 378

Shell Artifacts 379

Fish Remains 379

Interpretation 379

Acknowledgments 380

Resources 380

References 381

13 Artifacts of the Modern World 385
Susan Lawrence

Introduction 385

Cataloging Artifacts 387

Domestic Ceramics 388

Clay Tobacco Pipes 392

Bottle Glass 394

Glass tools 398

Beads and Buttons 398

Metal Containers 399

Firearms 400

Building Materials 400

Cemeteries and Gravestones 403

Artifact Analysis 403

Case Study 13.1: Kelly and Lucas’ Whaling Station, Adventure Bay, Tasmania 407

Conclusion 409

Resources 409

Further Reading 409

References 410

14 Historical Sources 415
Barbara J. Little

Introduction 415

Archaeology and Historical Sources 417

Preparing for research 417

Identifying sources 419

Verify, evaluate, and discriminate 422

Case Study 14.1: Scales of History and Historical Archaeology 423

What Are the Relationships between Documents and Archaeological Evidence? 427

Identification 427

Complement 428

Hypothesis formation and testing 429

Contradiction 429

Confronting myths 429

Creating context 430

Making an archaeological contribution to history 431

Acknowledgments 432

Resources 432

Archives 432

General 432

Oral history 433

Published resources 433

References 433

15 Writing the Past 436
Peter White

Introduction 436

First Decisions 436

What do I want to write about? 437

Who is my audience? 437

Structure 438

Aims 438

Background 438

Methods 439

Results 439

Conclusions 439

An abstract summarizes the text 439

References 440

Acknowledgments 440

Writing 440

Language 442

Writing for Publication 444

Audience 444

Start afresh 444

Follow instructions 444

Think about illustrations and tables 444

Reference efficiently 446

Read your proofs carefully 447

Conclusion 447

Acknowledgments 447

Further Reading 447

References 448

Appendix: Getting Things Right 449

SI units 449

Radiocarbon dates 449

Referencing 449

Proofing symbols 450

Index 451