Week 1
Lecture
1. What this course is about
This course is not mainly a history of archaeology or a survey of world archaeology. It is a
course about doing archaeology: how archaeology works as a discipline, what kinds of
questions it asks, and how it uses method, theory, dating, and different kinds of evidence in
order to understand the human past. It is positioned between the humanities and the
geosciences, which means archaeology is fundamentally interdisciplinary: it asks humanistic
questions about people, culture, and history, but often answers them using scientific methods.
This is important for the exam because the whole lecture is building toward a normative
definition of archaeology: not just “what archaeologists happen to do,” but what defines
archaeology as a discipline.
The course assessment, according to both your notes and the slides, includes:
● a paper on an archaeological object and what it contributes to historical understanding
● an exam with 2–3 essay questions
● 1 case study
● 5 definitions
So for the exam, you need to know both:
1. the definition and components of archaeology
2. the major theoretical schools and how they explain change
2. Defining archaeology
One of the main goals of the lecture is to show that archaeology is hard to define in a simple
way. Many definitions exist, but the lecturer wants a definition built from several essential
components.
The final definition
The lecture’s central definition is:
Archaeology is a humanities discipline in which a broad range of people systematically
study material culture (artefacts + ecofacts) to answer research questions that enrich
our understanding of both the recent and distant human past across the world. In this
effort they use methods and theories from the exact and social sciences.
This definition can be broken into key parts.
,3. The structuring components of archaeology
A. Archaeology is a humanities discipline
This is one of the most important points. Archaeology is about human culture and human
pasts. Even though it uses scientific methods, its core purpose is not to reconstruct climate or
animal evolution for their own sake. Its main concern is humans: how people lived, thought,
organized themselves, changed landscapes, produced objects, and interacted with one
another.
Your notes add an important nuance: archaeology may study forests, seeds, pollen, charcoal,
or animal remains, but it does so from the perspective of human activity and human
history. So ecology matters, but in archaeology it matters because it helps explain human
lives.
Another key phrase from the slides is “method AND theory.” Archaeology is not only
digging things up and not only interpreting culture in abstract ways. It always combines:
● methods: excavation, classification, dating, sampling, analysis
● theory: the interpretive framework that tells us what questions to ask and how to
understand the evidence
That means archaeology sits in the humanities, but it works through a strong combination of
scientific practice and interpretive thinking.
B. Archaeology is practiced by a broad range of people
The slides stress that archaeology is not done only by university professors. It involves many
different people and institutions:
● amateurs and professionals
● academic archaeologists
● commercial archaeologists
● government archaeologists
● field archaeologists
● desk-based archaeologists
● specialists by time period, such as Roman or medieval archaeologists
Your notes emphasize this strongly: archaeology can be practiced by many people interested
in material culture and the human past. This broadens the discipline and reminds us that
archaeology exists both inside and outside academia.
This also matters because modern archaeology is often shaped by commercial rescue
archaeology, not just academic research.
,C. Archaeology studies material culture
Material culture is central because archaeology begins with things rather than with texts. The
lecture divides material culture into two main categories:
1. Artefacts
Artefacts are objects made by humans, such as:
● pottery
● flint tools
● axes
● swords
● pipes
Artefacts are direct material traces of human action.
2. Ecofacts
Ecofacts are natural objects that carry archaeological significance. They are not made by
humans, but they become archaeologically important because of their connection to human
life. Examples from your notes include:
● seeds in cesspits, which help reconstruct diet
● charcoal, which can show how humans changed forests
● pollen or plant remains
● faunal remains related to human subsistence
The key issue is the human connection. Your notes ask: where do we draw the line? The
answer is that archaeology needs some meaningful relationship to human activity. A tree
alone is not archaeology, but charcoal from human burning, or seeds discarded in human
waste, can be.
This distinction is likely exam material because it is perfect for a definition question.
D. Archaeology must ask a historical research question
This is one of the lecture’s strongest claims: collecting objects is not enough. Preservation
alone is not archaeology. Archaeology only becomes archaeology when material remains are
used to answer a research question about humans in the past.
Your notes put this very clearly:
● collecting threatened objects for their own sake is not sufficient
● archaeology is about asking what an object or site contributes to historical
understanding
● the research question must be human-centered
, This means archaeology is not treasure hunting, nor is it just museum collecting. It is a form
of historical inquiry through material remains.
A likely essay point: archaeology is defined not only by its evidence, but by its purpose.
E. Archaeology studies both the distant and recent past
The lecture says archaeology is not limited to prehistory. It certainly focuses heavily on the
distant past, especially periods without written sources, but it also studies more recent
periods. The slides even mention garbage archaeology.
Your notes explain why this matters:
● written sources are often biased
● they often reflect elite viewpoints
● archaeology can recover the lives of people underrepresented in texts
● archaeology can study conflict, inequality, and everyday life
So archaeology remains useful even when texts exist, because objects and deposits tell
different stories from written records.
This is a major exam point: archaeology does not end where writing begins.
F. Archaeology is global
The lecture emphasizes “global archaeology” and “encounters in the past and present.”
Archaeology is not only about Europe, even if many traditional frameworks were
Eurocentric. The discipline increasingly tries to include broader world perspectives and
comparative frameworks.
Your notes add that archaeology has historically been Europe-centered, but there is an effort
to think across the world. This matters because archaeology is also shaped by colonialism,
nationalism, and global inequalities — themes that become very important in later theoretical
developments.
G. Archaeology uses methods and theories from the exact and social sciences
This is one of the lecture’s defining points. Archaeology asks humanities questions, but often
answers them using tools from:
● geology
● chemistry
● physics
● biology
● genetics
Lecture
1. What this course is about
This course is not mainly a history of archaeology or a survey of world archaeology. It is a
course about doing archaeology: how archaeology works as a discipline, what kinds of
questions it asks, and how it uses method, theory, dating, and different kinds of evidence in
order to understand the human past. It is positioned between the humanities and the
geosciences, which means archaeology is fundamentally interdisciplinary: it asks humanistic
questions about people, culture, and history, but often answers them using scientific methods.
This is important for the exam because the whole lecture is building toward a normative
definition of archaeology: not just “what archaeologists happen to do,” but what defines
archaeology as a discipline.
The course assessment, according to both your notes and the slides, includes:
● a paper on an archaeological object and what it contributes to historical understanding
● an exam with 2–3 essay questions
● 1 case study
● 5 definitions
So for the exam, you need to know both:
1. the definition and components of archaeology
2. the major theoretical schools and how they explain change
2. Defining archaeology
One of the main goals of the lecture is to show that archaeology is hard to define in a simple
way. Many definitions exist, but the lecturer wants a definition built from several essential
components.
The final definition
The lecture’s central definition is:
Archaeology is a humanities discipline in which a broad range of people systematically
study material culture (artefacts + ecofacts) to answer research questions that enrich
our understanding of both the recent and distant human past across the world. In this
effort they use methods and theories from the exact and social sciences.
This definition can be broken into key parts.
,3. The structuring components of archaeology
A. Archaeology is a humanities discipline
This is one of the most important points. Archaeology is about human culture and human
pasts. Even though it uses scientific methods, its core purpose is not to reconstruct climate or
animal evolution for their own sake. Its main concern is humans: how people lived, thought,
organized themselves, changed landscapes, produced objects, and interacted with one
another.
Your notes add an important nuance: archaeology may study forests, seeds, pollen, charcoal,
or animal remains, but it does so from the perspective of human activity and human
history. So ecology matters, but in archaeology it matters because it helps explain human
lives.
Another key phrase from the slides is “method AND theory.” Archaeology is not only
digging things up and not only interpreting culture in abstract ways. It always combines:
● methods: excavation, classification, dating, sampling, analysis
● theory: the interpretive framework that tells us what questions to ask and how to
understand the evidence
That means archaeology sits in the humanities, but it works through a strong combination of
scientific practice and interpretive thinking.
B. Archaeology is practiced by a broad range of people
The slides stress that archaeology is not done only by university professors. It involves many
different people and institutions:
● amateurs and professionals
● academic archaeologists
● commercial archaeologists
● government archaeologists
● field archaeologists
● desk-based archaeologists
● specialists by time period, such as Roman or medieval archaeologists
Your notes emphasize this strongly: archaeology can be practiced by many people interested
in material culture and the human past. This broadens the discipline and reminds us that
archaeology exists both inside and outside academia.
This also matters because modern archaeology is often shaped by commercial rescue
archaeology, not just academic research.
,C. Archaeology studies material culture
Material culture is central because archaeology begins with things rather than with texts. The
lecture divides material culture into two main categories:
1. Artefacts
Artefacts are objects made by humans, such as:
● pottery
● flint tools
● axes
● swords
● pipes
Artefacts are direct material traces of human action.
2. Ecofacts
Ecofacts are natural objects that carry archaeological significance. They are not made by
humans, but they become archaeologically important because of their connection to human
life. Examples from your notes include:
● seeds in cesspits, which help reconstruct diet
● charcoal, which can show how humans changed forests
● pollen or plant remains
● faunal remains related to human subsistence
The key issue is the human connection. Your notes ask: where do we draw the line? The
answer is that archaeology needs some meaningful relationship to human activity. A tree
alone is not archaeology, but charcoal from human burning, or seeds discarded in human
waste, can be.
This distinction is likely exam material because it is perfect for a definition question.
D. Archaeology must ask a historical research question
This is one of the lecture’s strongest claims: collecting objects is not enough. Preservation
alone is not archaeology. Archaeology only becomes archaeology when material remains are
used to answer a research question about humans in the past.
Your notes put this very clearly:
● collecting threatened objects for their own sake is not sufficient
● archaeology is about asking what an object or site contributes to historical
understanding
● the research question must be human-centered
, This means archaeology is not treasure hunting, nor is it just museum collecting. It is a form
of historical inquiry through material remains.
A likely essay point: archaeology is defined not only by its evidence, but by its purpose.
E. Archaeology studies both the distant and recent past
The lecture says archaeology is not limited to prehistory. It certainly focuses heavily on the
distant past, especially periods without written sources, but it also studies more recent
periods. The slides even mention garbage archaeology.
Your notes explain why this matters:
● written sources are often biased
● they often reflect elite viewpoints
● archaeology can recover the lives of people underrepresented in texts
● archaeology can study conflict, inequality, and everyday life
So archaeology remains useful even when texts exist, because objects and deposits tell
different stories from written records.
This is a major exam point: archaeology does not end where writing begins.
F. Archaeology is global
The lecture emphasizes “global archaeology” and “encounters in the past and present.”
Archaeology is not only about Europe, even if many traditional frameworks were
Eurocentric. The discipline increasingly tries to include broader world perspectives and
comparative frameworks.
Your notes add that archaeology has historically been Europe-centered, but there is an effort
to think across the world. This matters because archaeology is also shaped by colonialism,
nationalism, and global inequalities — themes that become very important in later theoretical
developments.
G. Archaeology uses methods and theories from the exact and social sciences
This is one of the lecture’s defining points. Archaeology asks humanities questions, but often
answers them using tools from:
● geology
● chemistry
● physics
● biology
● genetics
