2. The study of the material remains of human
cultures”
Location
Excavation and recovery
Collection, classification, systemisation
Description and analysis
Overview
Cultural theory
Links with anthropology, history, sciences,
surveying
3. Notions of Time
BC
bp
BCE
40 000 BC-43 AD
Arrival of H. sapiens
Decline and extinction of
Neanderthals
4. Emphasis on technology, and
predominant material.
Covers huge time period and many
types of culture
Stone Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
6. Evidence
Sites
Artefact
Assemblage
Culture
Social organisation
Approaches:
◦ Traditional
◦ Theory-based, eg sociological approaches to
examining human culture
7. "What defines human life and society?",
"How are social relations among humans
organised?",
Kinship, Exchange, Trade, Conflict
"Who are the ancestors of modern Homo
sapiens?"
"How has the evolutionary past of Homo
sapiens influenced its social organization and
culture?"
Theoretical approaches-Marxism,
Functionalism, Structuralism
8.
9. "Boxgrove is simply one of the great Early
Palaeolithic/Middle Pleistocene sites in the
world, this statement has nothing to do
with ego or anything else personal to
myself - it just is. The quality of
preservation, the range and depth of its
myriad lines of multidisciplinary evidence
are beyond nearly all other sites."
10. Cresswell caves contain occupation layers with
evidence of flint tools from various Palaeolithic
cultures. They were seasonally occupied by
nomadic groups of people during the Upper
Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.
11.
12. • Upper Palaeolithic archaeological settlement and cemetery located on
the Great Russian Plain outside of Vladimir, Russia
• human burials and occupations dated between 20,000 and 28,000
years ago.
The site included house structures, hearths, storage pits, tool
production areas.
• It served as a grave for seven individuals: the remains of an older man
and two children are particularly well-preserved
• the nature of the rich and extensive burial goods suggests they
belonged to the same class.
• Grave goods found in the Sungir burials include thousands of ivory
beads, bracelets, and pendants, as well as delicate sculptures of a
horse and mammoth.
13.
14.
15. The head and chest were decorated
with many ivory beads, originally sewn
onto cloth. Notice the mammoth-ivory
bracelets on his arms, and the remains
of the beaded cap on his head.
16. During an excavation in 1986, a well-preserved triple burial was
unearthed. Remains of three individuals, one female and two males,
were found.
The bodies were laying in an extended supine position, covered by
burnt spruce logs and branches.
The female in the middle was placed first, being partially covered by
the other two. The two males were laid beside the female in different
positions.
One was faced down and the other on his side with hands reaching the
pubic region of the female.
The heads of all three were covered with red ochre, the female also
having red ochre around her pubis. All three individuals are,
interestingly, theorized to be related based on three rare traits:
unilateral absence of the frontal sinus, specific auditory exostoses,
and impaction of the upper wisdom teeth.
Dolní Věstonice
26 000 bc
Art
Carved figures
Human burials-eg female skeleton and triple burial
17.
18.
19. One of the burials, located near the huts, revealed a human female
skeleton aged to 40+ years old
placed beneath a pair of mammoth scapulae, one leaning against the
other.
left side of the skull was disfigured in the same manner as a carved
ivory figure found on the site: was the figure was an intentional
depiction of this specific individual?
The bones and the earth surrounding the body contained traces of red
ochre,
flint spearhead had been placed near the skull,
one hand held the body of a fox.
20. During an excavation in 1986, a well-preserved triple burial was
unearthed. Remains of three individuals, one female and two males,
were found.
The bodies were laying in an extended supine position, covered by
burnt spruce logs and branches.
The female in the middle was placed first, being partially covered by
the other two. The two males were laid beside the female in different
positions.
One was faced down and the other on his side with hands reaching the
pubic region of the female.
The heads of all three were covered with red ochre, the female also
having red ochre around her pubis.
All three individuals are, interestingly, theorized to be related based
on three rare traits: unilateral absence of the frontal sinus, specific
auditory exostoses, and impaction of the upper wisdom teeth.
24. Periods named after sites (usually caves) in
France
Chronology of “Cave technology”
Mousterian- crude flint implements
Solutrean- refined flint working
Magdalenian- bone implements
