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Delaware
Archaeology Month
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Note:
The 2003 Archaeology Month poster was designed by staff members of
Gannett Fleming, Inc. The theme is
Education, particularly educating the public about archaeology and how it is
done. Below is the brochure written
by John Martin with assistance from Alice Guerrant,.
This goes with the poster, to expand on the activities you see pictured
there. ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeology
is the study of past people through the things they left behind – the tools
they worked with, the pots they cooked in, all the things that people made and
used. Broken pieces of these things
were thrown away and left in the ground. Archaeologists
call these things that they find artifacts.
The dictionary says that an artifact
is “an object produced or shaped by
human craft.”
But archaeologists do more than just look for artifacts. Archaeologists also look at what’s left of the
things people built and the ways they changed the places where they lived and
worked. Archaeologists call these
places sites, and the remains of
buildings, holes in the ground, and changes to the area are called features. Sometimes a
feature can be seen as easily as the ruins of a brick building. Sometimes
it can be as hard to see as the changes in soil color that mark where the posts
of a Native American’s house were driven into the ground. Archaeologists also need to know what kinds of plants
and animals were in that place, and what the weather was like.
This is called the site’s environment.
They also need to know if past people wrote things down about the area or
made pictures of the things important to them.
This is called the site’s history.
Archaeologists look for information about these things in many ways to
build a picture of past lives. Archaeologists
rely on both science and art to understand their discoveries. Finding out all these things is called research.
Archaeologists do research before, during, and after digging a site, or excavation
as archaeologists call it. In turn,
what they find at that site will help future researchers.
Before the field
work, -- going out into the area to look for and excavate sites --
archaeologists look for what is already known about the area and its
environment. This helps them to
decide where and what kinds of sites may be found.
Archaeologists look at historic maps and at locations where sites were
found before. Other places to look
are land deeds, wills, historical accounts, and archaeology reports.
Archaeologists will also talk to people in the area and see what they
know about its history and where artifacts are found.
With this information, archaeologists plan their work.
Once something new is found, more research may be needed to answer
questions about the artifacts and other finds. Field work includes a variety of methods
– set ways to do something. It all
starts with paying careful attention to where things are found.
Archaeologists lay out a grid
– two sets of lines crossing each other at right angles – on the top of the
ground before any digging is done. This helps them map the locations of any
finds. This is important because the
excavation removes the finds from their original locations. Descriptions of that
location – field records – are
all that will tie the artifacts to the spot where they were found. While many people are familiar with the digging that
archaeology does, many other methods can be used to explore archaeological
sites. Ground Next, the archaeologists go into their own
laboratory. Here analysis
– the very careful study of all the artifacts and field records – is the
next step to understanding the past. While
most people think of digging as the main part of archaeology, work in the
laboratory is just as important, and takes three times as long.
The artifacts are first cleaned and identified.
Microscopes are used to look at very small objects, such as seeds, or
nearly invisible marks that show how the object was used.
Some artifacts need conservation
– a way to protect and restore an object that could fall apart after being
removed from the ground or water. Special
chemicals or treatments clean them so they can be analyzed better, and preserve
them so they can be put on display. All
of the information about the artifacts is recorded in a catalogue
– a written list. Other kinds of collected materials may get a special
analysis. Charcoal can be used for radiocarbon
dating, which measures how much is left of a radioactive kind of carbon to
show how old the wood is. The less
there is, the older the wood is. The
chemistry of artifacts – examining
the metals and other materials that make up a thing – can tell how or where
they were made. Many other
scientific disciplines can be used for the analysis of archaeological findings.
One thing that archaeologists do to understand how artifacts are made and
used is to try to make them themselves. This
is called replication – the process
of making a copy of something. Some
archaeologists have learned to make stone tools like the Native Americans made.
Others have worked on making pots by coiling and paddling the coils
together. This helps archaeologists
understand the skills that Native Americans had and how they used those skills
to solve problems. Interpretation
– explaining what the site and its artifacts tell us about the people that
lived there – is the step in archaeology that makes the site come alive again.
This is where science and art truly mix.
While archaeologists seem to paint pictures artfully about the people
they study, those pictures are based on solid research and science.
All of the information collected from the field work, historic research,
artifact replication, and special analyses becomes the foundation for
interpreting who lived at the sites, how they lived, and what they did.
To take a piece of pottery, make it part of a pot, and place it within a
village where it was used for cooking, archaeologists have to look into the past
through thoroughly modern glasses. At
the same time, because human nature is not always predictable, archaeologists
need imagination to complete the pictures. Education – letting people know what was found and what it means – is the last step and a very important part of archaeology. Showing how objects were used or how archaeologists excavate is interesting for everybody. Museum displays, site tours and activities, and talks by archaeologists are all ways to find out about archaeology and what archaeologists do.
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Delaware Archaeology Month is sponsored by a committee
of the Archaeological Society of Delaware, partnered with
professional and avocational archaeologists living and/ or working in Delaware, and
concerned about preserving Delaware's rich heritage of archaeological
sites. Contact Craig Lukezic or Alice Guerrant at 302-736-7400, for further information.
The committee includes members from the Archaeological Society of Delaware, City of Wilmington Department of Planning, Delaware Department of Transportation, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Delaware State Parks, Delaware State Historic Preservation Office, Delaware State Museums, GAI Consultants, Inc., Gannett Fleming, Inc., Greenbank Mill Associates, Inc., Hunter Research, Inc., Iron Hill Museum of the Delaware Academy of Science, John Milner Associates, Inc., MAAR Associates, Inc., McCormick, Taylor and Associates, Inc., Preservation Delaware, Inc., The Louis Berger Group, Inc., Thunderbird Archeological Associates, Inc., University of Delaware Department of Anthropology, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. This celebration of the past would not be possible without the generous participation of the speakers, festival volunteers, and sponsors. This site is maintained by the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office. Contact Alice Guerrant if you have comments, additions, or corrections for this site. Copyright 2001. Last Updated: 02/25/08 . |