Archaeology 2AC

Main

Medieval Mindset (500-1500 AD)

-Very little interest in the study of the past
- Civilization thought to be on path of degradation
towards apocalypse

James Ussher Calculates Age of Earth

1650

Uses Bible to calculate how old the earth is -- calculates earth to be 4004 years old

Ussher's Finding's published in King Jame's Bible

1701

Solidifies mindset of earth being super young

Antiquarianism (1500-1800)

-advent of interest in collection of artifacts
-collecting artifacts became associated with nation-building

John Aubrey Sketches British Monuments

1600

-Stonehenge and Averbury

Elgin Marbles Taken from Greece

1806

-Earl of Eligin takes artifacts from Greece to Britain
-For Greeks this is a theft of their cultural patrimony
-For British this is a testament to their roots in Greek society

Scientific Antiquarianism (1700-1800)

-adoption of enlightenment principles
- civilization is progressing not degrading
- Beginning of interpretive approach to artifacts

William Stukeley studies stonehenge and averbury

1700

"Notes on the State of Virginia" Published

1787

-Thomas Jefferson research
-Excavate American Indian Mound in Virginia

Charles Lyell Publishes Principles of Geology

1830

-Uniformitarianism
-Law of Superposition

Crania Americana Published

1839

-By Sam Morton
-Morphogenic research attempting to solve myth of the moundbuilders
-Bad science and rascist

Darwin Publishes On the Origin of Species

1860

The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man

1863

Research of William Pengelly -Excavation of Kent's Cave -Found multiple strata containing extinct animals in association with human remains

Lubbock's Theory of Analogical Reasoning

1865

-Based on concept of unilinear cultural evolution
-Believed primitive cultures could be studied as a window into the past of complex societies

Cyrus Thomas Appointed to Study Mounds

1882

Appointed by Bureau of American Ethnology

Thomas Concludes American Indians made Mounds

1894

-“The 12th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology”
- Direct Historical Approach
-Western frontier already closed

Culture History

-Franz Boas
-Cultural Relativism
-Descriptive
-Historical Particularism

Max Uhle excavates Emeryville Shellmound

1902

-Develops stratigraphic excavation techniques

Kroebler Seriates Zuni Pottery

1915

Uses stylistic Seriation

Processual Archaeology

-Emphasis on scientific method
-Explanatory
-Culture as adaptive