Chapter 3                                                                                                                                        Lesson 3

 

Examining Archaeology

 

                  Sarcophagus:  stone coffin

I.                    A Classic Excavation

a.      The purpose of classic archaeology was to find spectacular artifacts.

                                                              i.      Example: the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb.

II.                 The New Archaeology

a.      Archaeologists are not longer looking for treasures.  Today they search instead to understand the lives of all people, rich and poor.

b.      To study the lives of people, archaeologists study all the objects left behind, including rubbish.

                                                              i.      Kitchen midden: the rubbish including artifacts and bones left by people of the past.

c.      Modern archaeologists work closely with other specialists.

                                                              i.      Geologists study soil and minerals to give archaeologists clues about the condition of the earth at different periods in time.

                                                           ii.      Botanists provide information about the plants that lived at different times.

                                                         iii.      Zoologists provide information about the animals that lived at different times.

                                                           iv.      Chemists and physicists use the scientific dating techniques that tell archaeologists the age of ancient artifacts.