Professional Archaeology

Death by Theory, written by Adrian Praetzellis, is an engaging and informational book written in a novelistic way that engages the reader to think critically about archaeology. Compared to other forms of informational text about archaeology, Death by Theory teaches archaeological theory by telling a story that incorporates the different theories of archaeology in a realistic setting. While standard textbooks about the theory of archaeology can come off a bit dry, Death by Theory skips the standard definitions and applies this in a way that aids the reader in understanding how these theories and terms can be applied in an actual archaeological setting. This text illustrates the adventure of plucky archaeologist Dr. Hannah Green and her nephew Sean Doyle as they seek to explain an unusual archaeological site while dealing with real life archaeological struggles. The protagonists deal with an egotistical colleague of Dr. Green who sought her out as a consult on a particularly strange archaeological case. All the while dealing with cults, the media, and incompatible data.

After rewatching Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark for the second time I view Indiana Jones as less of an archaeologist than I did the first time I watched it. In my first paper I stated that Indiana Jones was a combination of a grave digger and an archaeologist. Now after completing this course I see that he is even less of an archaeologist than I first depicted. The only ethical archaeology being conducted in this movie is done by the Nazi’s; not Indiana Jones. Beyond, getting historical accuracy of the time period correct this movie fails fails to paint a picture of what archaeology truly is. In turn, since my knowledge is far more comprehensive I have come to realize that the movie fails to showcase archaeology even more than I originally

There are many ways that an archeological site can be observed, for example, aerial photography such as satellite pictures can be used. Also when carrying out an excavation on a low budget, which is very common in most cases, a low-flying kite can replace the satellite (Roskams, page 43). More recently the more common availability and use of drones could also be used to get live aerial data from above. Many sites are more apparent from above, and New Kinord is a great example as you can see some of the stone circles clearly, see figure 2 below.

It can be easy to confuse the work of archaeologists and historians. While both spend time and effort to study the past, the evidence they use can be very different. One way that they are different is that archaeologists use physical evidence to understand the past much more than historians. Because they often study the time before humans could write, archaeologists use this physical evidence to fill in holes about the past. They see how this evidence changes over time and also how it may stay the same. Archaeologists consider this to be more objective than the evidence used by historians because physical evidence isn't changed by human lies. For example, archaeologists would use the physical things left by a group while historians would use a letter written by the head of the group. However, this letter may not be objective. So, these different kinds of evidence can lead archaeologists and historians to the same or different research conclusions.

Unlike the fictional tactics that movies such as Indiana Jones and The Mummy portray, archaeologists utilize meticulous and methodical strategies when studying archaeological sites. Rather than simply stumbling upon a glorious treasure out of the blue, archaeologists tend to have a reason to explore a specific region for historical artifacts. Moreover, the process of digging up these sites is extensively regulated so that the integrity and value of these sites are kept intact. Over time, the methods that archaeologists implement has evolved greatly, as observed by comparing the techniques of Heinrich Schliemann, Howard Carter, and Kenneth Feder. It can be observed that as time has progressed, these archaeologists have become more tentative

Development in science field allowed us to achieve a lot of things. One of the most popular science field is genetics and knowledge in genetics has significantly increased, “Compared with the first sequencing effort in 1997, today’s state of the art involves the generation of more than 200 million times more data”, (Hawks, 2013). This remarkable development in science field has a huge impact on archaeological findings too, especially so in helping archaeologists understand human evolution. Although modern genetic research has allowed us to better fully understand human evolution, it has yet

It is incredibly important for an archaeologist to be patient, which is one of the most vital skills in this field. “In order to become an Archeologist an individual needs to learn how to act, how to work through tough situations, and work on being patient and opened minded (2).” It is important to be patient because if you're not then you could maybe break or bust a valuable artifact. Lastly, being an archeologist takes patience, the

At this level archaeologists are examining things such as roads and networks of communities. An example of this can be seen in Jason Ur’s piece which describes the networks of paths that were necessary to connect a city to its hinterlands which provided the food (Ur 2009). At this level archaeologists can examine the movement of goods along trade routes, the networks between city states and the broad strokes of widespread cultures. One method that archaeologists use at this scale is what Jason Ur calls the “holistic landscape approach”.

During this summer holiday, I read a translated version of “autobiography of Heinrich Schliemann” translated by Kusuo Seki. I read this book because it was my brother’s recommendation but before reading it I didn't have any background information about Schliemann or about archaeology.

skeleton remains. It consisted of adults, a teenager, and children with lethal hits to the skulls, broken legs (at the shin), these people were either tortured or mutilated shortly after death.

From the perspective of a psychologist, the traditional cultural anthropological practice of excavating burial sites for research and how the practice should not continue is extremely relevant to their work. From a psychologist’s point of view, the conventional way of excavating burial sites would be deemed unethical for a number of reasons. Psychologists would agree that any physical remains, whether it is a physical body or an artifact, has great emotional meaning to the society/community it belongs to. When the physical remain(s) is/are taken from the society or community, it would evoke a strong negative reaction as the people would think of the remain(s) as part of who they are as a culture and as people, causing a public outcry, as well as the morality of the situation questioned.

The media has a big impact on today’s generation due to its accessibility. Anyone could pick up a book from the library, stroll along to the movies, or simply go on the web to search for relevant information happening in today’s world. Archaeology is widely used in several forms of media such as books, comics, television series, movies, and the news. While the media exposes and educates its audience, can their information be trusted? Although the goal of some news outlets such as Fox News and CNN is to provide relevant information to their audience, how accurate are those information? In this paper, we will examine how archaeology is represented in several news outlets such as Fox News, New York Times, CNN and NBC News, and if the information

Spending two weeks excavating at the Ness of Brodgar can only be described as enlightening both with the theory of archaeology and the historical site itself. This extraordinary site made me realise that we are seeing these things for the first time in 5000 years, seeing them with fresh eyes and trying to understand how these people lived. It is strange to think that they weren’t stupid people but instead had the same brain capacity as the modern humans of today, this small section of the known site only shows us a mere glimpse of what these past humans did yet it still tells us more than we can ever imagine. Throughout the two week period I understood all the things that we were taught in our theory and method module and I was able to understand

How are artifacts, ecofacts, or features analyzed? Discuss the process of finding, categorizing, and interpreting an archaeological site. Describe at least two analytical methods (in detail) used by archaeologists to interpret archaeological data.

At the very beginning of the SAA’s Principles of Archaeological Ethics, it states the following: “It is the responsibility of all archaeologists to work for the long-term conservation and protection of the archaeological record by practicing and