AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Artefact or artifact4/1/2023 Classification should not be based on an artifact ’s function, because this often cannot be determined unambiguously. Typological analysis classifies artifacts into types based on observable traits such as form, method of manufacture, and materials. Often archaeologists also detail how the site should be managed, further excavated, or preserved. These reports will later be collectively published in a scientific journal or book as the site report. Each specialist involved in an excavation will usually write a report of his or her findings at the site. This processing should be performed quickly so that documentation of all artifacts found at the site may proceed without delay. The objects are finally wrapped for transfer to an off-site laboratory. By comparing these object groupings with the stratigraphic positions in which the objects were found, the archeologist has a basis for assigning relative ages to the objects. Artifacts are then sorted according to type of material -e.g., stone, ceramic, metal, glass, or bone -then into subgroups based on similarities in shape, manner of decoration, or method of manufacture. Delicate pieces may be protected in plaster, polyurethane foam, resin, or latex.Īfter an artifact ’s position has been mapped and recorded in field notes, it is taken to the site laboratory to be cleaned and labeled. It is important in these cases for an archeological conservator to be present at the excavation site to assist in the recovery of artifacts. Even in dry caves, some recovered materials may require special treatment to be preserved. In wet or submerged sites, artifact recovery is more difficult, because artifacts can disintegrate when dried too rapidly. Charcoal samples can be retrieved for carbon-14 (radiocarbon) dating. Material from ancient hearths may contain seeds, hulls, and small animal bones that help archeologists decipher the diet of that site ’s occupants. For example, sediments may provide microscopic pollen grains that aid paleoclimatic reconstructions. This allows artifacts that typical field-screening techniques would otherwise miss to be recovered. Recovered artifacts are placed in bags (and sometimes assigned field numbers) before being sent to a laboratory for analysis.īesides artifacts, archeologists may take sediment samples from a site back to the laboratory for fine-screening. Some archeologists use specially prepared data sheets to record information about recovered artifacts that they later enter into a computer. Each step of the excavation is recorded with detailed maps and photographs. To understand context, they must take care to document the artifact ’s exact horizontal and vertical positions, its relationship to the stratum in which it was found (its stratigraphic position), and any cultural factors that contributed to its location. When collecting artifacts from an archeological site, archeologists endeavor to establish and document the context in which an artifact was found. However, archeological excavation and artifact retrieval always proceed by well-established methods designed to record as much information as possible about a site and its artifact assemblage, or group, of recovered objects. Some artifacts are discovered by accident, for example, by a farmer plowing his field or by a construction worker digging a foundation. Artifacts, and their context, help archaeologists describe and compare aspects of past cultures, as well as form a chronology of those cultures, although there are limitations on how much scientific information artifacts alone can provide.Īn artifact is any object that was intentionally designed and shaped through human effort. Most of the information from archaeological excavation is gathered from an artifact ’s context, or where it is found, and with what other items it is recovered. Whether priceless or common, they are key to deciphering the archaeological record and information about how people lived in the past. Artifacts are often the most intriguing part of archaeological research.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |