E) Some expressions are underlined in the text. Try to explain how you understand them.

Unit XVII

I. Look through the words and expressions and learn them:

Ø to bring a scientific approach – привнести науковий підхід;

Ø to determine sequences of cultural development – визначити послідовність культурного розвитку;

Ø to focus studies on the ancient civilizations – сконцентрувати дослідження на стародавніх цивілізаціях;

Ø to turn to anthropology – звернутися до антропології;

Beginnings. The idea of studying the past through ancient objects has developed gradually. But the most intense interest has occurred in the past 200 years. During the 1700's, some wealthy Europeans began to study and collect art objects from the times of ancient Greece and Rome. This interest in classical art is called antiquarianism. These first diggers looked only for treasures and threw away ordinary objects. Also during the 1700's, European scholars began to debate how long human beings had lived on the earth. Their interest resulted partly from recent discoveries of primitive stone tools together with the bones of extinct animals. These scholars also knew about the huge mounds and ruined cities in the Americas that pointed to ancient human life there. They realized that human beings had a prehistoric past, but they could not decide when and where this past had begun.

The 1800's brought a more scientific approach to the study of the past. The great length of human prehistory became widely accepted due to advances in geology and biology. By the early 1800's, geologists had determined that rock formation resulted from extremely slow processes, such as erosion and volcanic activity. This view, known as uniformitarianism, led most scholars to believe that the earth was much older than previously thought. Then, in 1859, the British biologist Charles R. Darwin proposed the theory of biological evolution in his book The Origin of Species. This theory suggested that human beings, like other animals and the earth itself, had developed slowly over a great period of time.

By the mid-1800's, archaeology had become a separate field of study, and evidence of human prehistory was accumulating rapidly. Important discoveries included prehistoric lake dwellings in Switzerland, ancient cave paintings in France and Spain, and part of a prehistoric human skull found in Germany. In the late 1800's, archaeologists began to use techniques of excavation that made it possible to determine sequences of cultural development. In an excavation at Naqada, near Qus, Egypt, the British scholar Sir Flinders Petrie became one of the first diggers to look carefully for all remains, not just for treasures. Others who undertook major excavations at that time included the British nobleman Sir Austen Henry Layard, at Nineveh in what is now Iraq, and the German businessman Heinrich Schliemann, at Troy in what is now Turkey.

European archaeologists of the late 1800's focused their studies on the ancient European and Middle Eastern civilizations described by classical and Biblical authors. American archaeologists, however, could find almost no written records of the civilizations they studied. Partly for this reason, they turned to anthropology for methods of interpreting their discoveries. For example, they studied artifacts produced by contemporary American Indians to help interpret objects from past societies.

The 1900's. The scope of archaeology expanded greatly during the 1900's. Archaeologists began to explore the past civilizations of Central and South America, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and other areas. By the early 1900's, archaeologists were using stratigraphy and seriation to date their finds. During the mid-1900's, new techniques made dating much easier and more accurate. The most significant of these techniques was radiocarbon dating, developed in the 1940's by an American chemist named Willard F. Libby. Great advances in underwater archaeology also occurred during the mid-1900's. Previously, underwater excavation had been both difficult and expensive. The aqualung and other diving devices invented during the 1940's enabled divers to move more freely.

Recent developments. Since the 1950's, the primary aim of archaeologists has been to develop general theories that explain the changes in human societies revealed by archaeological evidence. For example, archaeologists today look for reasons behind the growth of cities in the Middle East about 3000 B.C. Contemporary archaeologists have also developed many new research techniques. They use sampling methods based on the principles of statistics and probability. In this way, they can study sites quickly and without extensive excavation. New scientific methods also aid in the discovery of underground sites. For example, archaeologists can locate buried remains by using a magnetometer to measure slight irregularities in the earth's magnetic field. This method led to the discovery of an ancient city buried 15 feet (4,6 meters) below the ground in Italy.

A major concern among archaeologists today involves the preservation of archaeological sites that have not yet been studied. Many such sites are threatened by construction projects, the expansion of agriculture, and other types of development. The United States enacted laws during the 1960's and 1970's that require federal agencies to identify and preserve places that might be of historic importance.

On an international scale, archaeologists seek to halt the illegal sale of archaeological objects. They urge developed nations to enact and enforce laws to prohibit the import of ancient objects unless an export certificate has been obtained from the country of origin.

III. Look through these words and expressions and provide their Ukrainian equivalents:

§ ancient object;

§ primitive stone tools;

§ scientific approach;

§ cave paintings;

§ to undertake excavation;

§ contemporary;

§ the scope of archaeology;

§ to invent;

§ primary aim;

§ research techniques;

§ buried remains;

§ to measure;

§ preservation;

§ expansion;

§ illegal sale;

§ country of origin

IV. Give synonyms to the underlined words in these expressions:

· begin to debate;

· prehistoric lake dwellings;

· to explore the past civilizations;

· the most significant techniques;

· primary aim;

· historic importance;

· to urge;

· to prohibit the import

V. Find English equivalents for the following: