Post-Dig Lab
MA-SB-SS
2014
Prehistory vs. History
South Jordanian Desert
Humayma
Camels
Before
After
Tools of the Trade
Material Culture – The finds
Two point
eight four
meters
below
surface
2.84m =
9’ 3 4/5”
Pottery Washing and Paperwork
Sotira, Cyprus
Experimental Archaeology
• Reconstructing past technology to better
understand how people lived
• Mock Excavations
– Safety for students
• Assures no toxic or dangerous areas excavated
– To emphasize specific topics
– Cultural Comparison
• American vs. Ancient World
Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork
• Post-dig
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Artifact form
Register finds
Data base entry
Ceramicist report
Faunal Analysis
Seed Flotation
Floral Analysis
C14 dating
Site report
POST DIG - ARTIFACT FORM
SITE ____ - ____ - _____
SQUARE # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (circle one)
QUAD # NW, NE, CEN, SE, SW (circle one)
LEVEL _____
ARTIFACT # __________
DESCRIPTION - metal ( ) bone ( ) glass ( ) ceramic ( ) other___________________ ( )
DEPTH FROM SURFACE _____ cm
Draw and measure the artifact:
What was the artifact used for?
What objects from ancient civilizations had the same use?
What do the artifacts tell us?
Interpretation:
The big universal questions
Shelter
Food
Clothing
Trade
Transportation
Context:
Native American
trade, food source, tools
Fishing
Agriculture
Colonial American farmer
with ox and plow
Donkeys pulling a seeder plow on a
cylinder seal from Tell Suleimeh,
Iraq, mid-third millennium B.C.E.
Sheep and Goats
Textiles - wool
Textiles - linen
Transportation and Trade
Laetoli, Africa
Sumerians used pottery wheel and
cart wheel
Ceramics – Potsherds
reconstruction
Greek culture
Colonial Building materials
Sumerians had reed houses and
monumental architecture
thermopolium
Think Archaeology