ARCH Intro
Chris Gosden’s Prehistory: A Very Short Introduction
- Rethink prehistory in a non-progressivist framework; the past is contested; examples from parts of the world you are unlikely to have heard about
- Implies people without writing are unchanging
- Written histories imply progress, All peoples have ways of recording their histories
- For Gosden, prehistory is long history (about process, not events)
Agriculture
- Older ideas: cultural evolution: progressive, “onwards and upwards”
Gordon Childe: The Neolithic “revolution”;
- Neolithic = “New Stone Age”, changed every facet of human life.
- Agriculture as a Process: a process between people and plants (or animals)
The Near East: Ohallo II
- Semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers; 20 KYA (Paleolithic)
PPNB (Pre-pottery Neolithic B) (ca. 9000 – 10 000 years ago)
- Large farming villages, example “Abu Hureyra” (5000 people)
- Acorns, Rice Agriculture, and pottery in China
- First grinding stones 28 KYA
- First pottery: 20 KYA
- First wild rice used as temper in pottery ca. 10 KYA
What is archaeology?
-
Archaeology - “The study of the past, combining themes of time and change” OR “The study of the past through its material remains” (Johnson 2010:1)
- Material remains = artifacts, features, food remains, houses, settlements, etc.
- Change through time: culture change cannot be explained by natural selection alone
- No one overarching theory of culture change exit in archaeology
-
Archaeology is multidisciplinary
-
Anthropology: ethnographies, social theory; sciences: zoology, chemistry, physics, biology; history: Oral history, classics, archival materials, history; historical archaeology – archaeology in combination with written records (won’t discuss much in this course)
Ex: Newark, Ohio country club built on remains of giant earthwork structure, build by Indigenous peoples
-
What is heritage
Tangible and intangible
Inherited property: Cultural Heritage
- “The sites, movable and immovable artifacts, practices, knowledge items, and other things that a group or society has identified as old, important, and therefore worthy of conscious conservation measures, often at the hands of specialized institutions” -Christoph Bruman, 2015
- Cultural heritage: “Reflects the human aspects of our communities that shape who we are and how we interact with the world around us” -Joe Watkins, 2016
Heritage/Archaeology and Nationalism:
- Champlain Statue, Orillia, Ontario (features 2 Indigenous peoples looking up at a Jesuit priest) (statue has now been removed); (Finding the lost Franklin ships, Erebus and Terror) (Considered important for Canadians, to maintain claim on the Arctic)