Text 3. Examining Archaeology

Read the text and search for the information about:

a) the methods archaeologists use to find out how old an artifact might be;

b) what other specialists modern archaeologists work with.

Archaeology is the scientific study of the material remains of past human life and activities. These materials include relics, artifacts, monuments. The data of archaeological research is used to reconstruct the various social and economic periods of history for which no written sources exist. Archaeology is the recovery and study of artifacts, ruins, bones and fossils remaining from the past. The artifacts, ruins, bones and fossils that archaeologists discover and study make up archaeological record. By studying the archaeological record archaeologists can learn many things about people of the past: how they lived, what they ate, what diseases they had, and even how they died.

Imagine a village where no one has lived for thousands of years. Over the centuries the wind and rain have swept through its streets, destroying many of its buildings. Eventually, all that is left of the village are the ruins of the buildings and a few artifacts. As more time passes, soil covers the site. Trees grow over the remains. The archaeological record of the village becomes sealed in layers within the earth.

Centuries later, however, signs of the village may be brought back to the earth’s surface. This uncovering occurs in many ways. Erosion, the gradual wearing away of soil might reveal the remains of the ruined buildings. Animals rooting in the ground might dig up artifacts. New settlers clearing the land for farming might uncover more evidence. Archaeologists then are able to examine the surface of the site and can begin to put together the archaeological record. In most cases, however, evidence remains buried in layers in the earth, and archaeologists must use excavation to examine the site. Excavation is the process of digging up the remains of the past

Once archaeologists have located a site, they carefully remove the earth, layer by layer. They divide the surface of the site into squares with grids. As they dig, they carefully record the exact location of every object they find. Studying the layers themselves, as well as the artifacts, can give archaeologists clues about how the archaeological record was formed at different periods of history.

Some areas of the world have been inhabited for thousands of years. In these areas, many groups of people have built cities on top of the ruines of the earlier cities. For example, archaeologists have found evidence of at least seven cities built on top of each other at the site of ancient Troy in modern-day Turkey.

How can archaeologists find out how old an artifact might be? They use two methods: cultural dating and scientific dating.

Cultural dating is a process of gathering information, archaeologists compare objects they find with information they already have.

Some ancient objects can be dated more accurately by analysing them in a laboratory. This kind of analysis is called scientific dating. Archaeologists have developed many scientific dating techniques. The most significant is radiocarbon dating. In this method radioactive carbon within an archaeological discovery is measured to determine the age of the object. Radiocarbon dating can only be used to date the remains of once-living things, such as wood or bones. Here’s how radiocarbon dating works. Every living thing absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. A small amount of carbon is radioactive. When a plant or animal dies, it stops absorbing carbon. The radioactive carbon absorbed when it was alive begins to decay at a known rate. Archaeologists have figured out methods of measuring the amount of radioactive carbon left in things like bones and wood. Using this information, they can figure out when a plant or animal died. Radiocarbon dating has helped solve many mysteries. For example, in 1950 archaeologists used this method to figure out the age of Tollund Man.

Techniques such as radiocarbon dating have given archaeologists valuable information about the past. Nevertheless, people tend to interpret past events in light of their own experiences. As different archaeologists examine the archaeological record, they come to different conclusions about its meaning. Archaeology is not merely a search for beautiful and valuable buried treasures. It is a search for knowledge about the past. Modern archaeologists work closely with other specialists. Geologists study soil and minerals to give archaeologists clues about the condition of the earth at different periods of time. Botanists and zoologists provide information about the plants and the animals that lived at different times. Chemists and physicists use the scientific dating techniques that tell archaeologists the age of ancient artifacts.

As archaeologists and historians debate the different ways in which ideas have spread throughout the world, they examine their sources again and again. They also reinterpret the information. As a result of this continuing study, the present-day view of the past is also changing. Modern archaeologists continue to examine ancient objects in order to piece together the story of the past.