Archaeology Essentials rchae ology A Essenti als Colin Renfrew & Paul Bahn rchae ology Essenti als Fourth Edition Theories/Methods/Practice With 303 illustrations Archaeology Essentials © 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018 Thames & Hudson Ltd, London Text © 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018 Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. First published in 2007 in paperback in the United States of America by Thames & Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10110 www.thamesandhudsonusa.com Fourth edition 2018 Library of Congress Control Number 2014944450 Paperback: ISBN 978-0-500-84138-9 Not for Sale: ISBN 978-0-500-29372-0 Printed and bound in China by C & C Offset Printing Co. Ltd Contents Preface 6 1 Searching for the Past 10 7 How Were Artifacts Made, 208 The History of Archaeology Used, and Distributed? Technology, Trade, and Exchange 2 What Is Left? 38 The Variety of the Evidence 8 What Were They Like? 232 The Bioarchaeology of People 3 Where? 62 Survey and Excavation of Sites 9 What Did They Think? 252 and Features Cognitive Archaeology 4 When? 107 10 Why Did Things Change? 276 Dating Methods and Chronology Explanation in Archaeology 5 How Were Societies Organized? 142 11 Whose Past? 297 Social Archaeology Archaeology and the Public 6 What Was the Environment 175 12 The Future of the Past 316 and What Did They Eat? Managing Our Heritage Environment, Subsistence, and Diet Glossary 338 Illustration Credits 344 Useful Websites 345 Index 345 5 Preface Archaeology Essentials is designed for college students taking an introductory course in archaeology. It aims to convey some of the excitement of archaeology in the twenty-first century and to give students a concise and readable account of the ways in which modern archaeologists investigate and understand our remote past. Archaeologists usually make the headlines when they find something spectacular: in 2013, for example, the discovery of the skeleton of King Richard III of England, buried in what remained of the former Greyfriars church in Leicester, now a parking lot, created a sensation. Here were the remains of Richard “Crouchback” (the deformity in the spine clearly visible), the last English monarch to die in battle, at Bosworth Field in 1485. However, most archaeologists spend their time engaged in research that rarely makes the news, but is nevertheless vitally important for our understanding of the past. Archaeology is still often a matter of the painstaking excavation of an ancient site, but today archaeologists can use new techniques that sometimes avoid the need for excavation altogether. Advances in science and computing, as well as in methods for analyzing and evaluating archaeological finds, mean that archaeologists can reach conclusions that would have been impossible just fifteen or twenty years ago. This book will introduce students to the methods, new and old, used by archaeologists: from the traditional shovel and trowel to satellite imaging, laser-based mapping using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), and ground-based remote sensing. New technology has affected the work of archaeologists in the laboratory as well as in the field: we cover, for example, the use of genetic evidence. But the story of modern archaeology is not just about technology. There have been enormous advances in the questions archaeologists ask and in the assumptions and theoretical models they apply to archaeological evidence. Some questions, which an earlier generation of archaeologists might have considered closed, have now been opened up for new examination. 66 Preface In other words, whatever the focus of an individual college course, it is our intention that students will find in this book an authoritative, concise, and clear explanation of modern archaeological practice. How to Use This Book Archaeology Essentials is organized around the most important questions that archaeologists ask. Chapter 1 looks at the history of archaeology, the kinds of questions asked by archaeologists in the past and the methods they used. In Chapter 2 we ask the question What Is Left?: the evidence with which archaeologists work. Chapter 3 examines the question Where?: archaeologists can learn a good deal from the context in which evidence is found, and have developed many techniques for locating and recovering evidence. In Chapter 4 the question is When?: how can we know whether something dates from a few hundred years or many thousands of years ago? Chapter 5 examines the fascinating question of How Were Societies Organized?: the nature, scale, and analysis of past social organization and identity. In Chapter 6 we look at the world in which ancient people lived: What Was the Environment and What Did They Eat? Technology was an important factor in changing both society and the lives of our ancestors, as were contact and trade with other ancient peoples: the key question for Chapter 7 is How Were Artifacts Made, Used, and Distributed? Chapter 8 looks at the archaeology of people: What Were They Like? Chapter 9 addresses some of the more difficult questions that contemporary archaeologists explore, for instance the ways ancient peoples thought about their world and issues of identity: in other words, What Did They Think? An equally difficult question is the subject of Chapter 10: Why Did Things Change? In Chapter 11 we address the often controversial question Whose Past?: the past may be remote in time but it can be very relevant today if it touches on the beliefs, identity, and wishes of the descendants of those who lived long ago. Finally, in Chapter 12 we look at both the practice of applied archaeology (a profession that now employs more people than the academic archaeology pursued in universities) and more generally: The Future of the Past. At the end of that chapter we also include a section on building a career in archaeology. If you follow the questions examined in this book you will understand how archaeologists work, think, analyze, and seek to understand the past. You will also discover that not all questions can be answered, or perhaps that there might be more than one answer. To help you understand how archaeology works, we have provided some special features in this book. Case studies in boxes, shaded in blue and featured throughout the text, show you archaeology in action and will help you understand the issues that archaeologists deal with in their research and fieldwork. Key Concept boxes summarize and review important concepts, Preface 777 methods, or facts about archaeology. At the end of every chapter there is a summary to recap what you have read and a suggested reading list to guide you to the most important and helpful publications if you want to research any subject further. Archaeological terms in the text that are defined in the glossary are highlighted in bold (e.g. excavation) when they first occur in the book. New to This Edition This new fourth edition of Archaeology Essentials has been updated throughout, to reflect recent advances in methodology, analysis, and understanding, and to highlight the importance of contemporary archaeological issues: •In Chapter 1, the history of archaeology has been further opened up to new perspectives, with traditionally famous nineteenth-century male figures now balanced with neglected pioneering voices. •The fast-developing field of digital data capture and 3D modeling is covered in Chapter 3 in a new section, “Excavating the Digital Age,” with a particular focus on the potential offered by drone technology. •The study of isotopes is illustrated with a new case study on the Norse settlement of Greenland in Chapter 6. •The rapid progress of DNA analysis is reflected throughout this fourth edition, with expanded sections on ancient DNA (aDNA) in Chapters 8 and 10. •In Chapter 11, the increasing threat posed to the material record by ideological extremism is examined through the destruction of Palmyra by so-called Islamic State (IS), alongside the Taliban’s earlier demolition of the sandstone Buddhas at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. In addition, this new edition of Archaeology Essentials includes a range of recent ground-breaking archaeological investigations, for instance the Cultural Resource Management (CRM) work conducted at Hohokam sites in Arizona, along with new and updated case studies on such sites as Mississippian Spiro in Oklahoma, the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, and Must Farm in eastern England. Student and Instructor Resources Fully revised student and instructor materials for this fourth edition of Archaeology Essentials are found on the website to accompany the book: http://college.thameshudsonusa.com/college/archaeologyessentials4. Readers outside North America should email [email protected] for further information. Archaeology Essentials is also available as an ebook. Resources for Students Students benefit from a variety of resources designed to complement the knowledge and skills provided by Archaeology Essentials: 88 Preface