Ancient History Web Search
Part A.
Archaeology and Science - Web Search
1. Have
a look at any sites you can find for information
on this topic.
For example: open
http://www.mirabilis.ca/
-
this is a regularly
updated portal of links and commentary about history and archaeology, religion,
environment,
and other topics.
(If this site wont open, try the information on
this web page.)
2. Find and read
some
articles that demonstrate examples of how archaeologists use specialists
from
different scientific fields in their investigations:
Here are some past examples that may still he carried.
(If these links don't work, type the words in a Google search, and find
another sources for the news item.)
DNA test for Joan of Arc
Bronze Age mourners used flowers
Battle for
the books of Herculaneum
Search for ancient Persian warships
3.
Briefly
record a few points about some of the cases. You will be able to use this
later, as examples in a mini essay on the relationship between archaeology
and science.
4.
Now try your own web search.
Find two more cases where archaeologists have called on other scientific fields to aid their
investigations.
(see the other web lessons.)
Part
B.
The Evolution of Archaeological Methods -
Early Archaeologists
(Questions 1-3 )
1.
Read
this brief overview of the history of archaeology.
The earliest 'archaeologists' have been described as 'Treasure Hunters',
with no thought to preservation, or the importance of making detailed
records of their finds.
(Open the following site 'in a new
window' or pase the URL in your web browser.)
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0856675.html
2.
Now
read about the following archaeologists: Belzoni, Schlieman, Evans.
BELZONI THE TOMB ROBBER
Inevitably,
greedy diplomats vied with one another for a share of the spoils, for
prized antiquities to sell in Europe. They employed agents like circus
strongman- turned arch-aeologist Giovanni Belzoni to clear tombs, move
statues, and excavate for them. Belzoni had spent years using weights,
levers, and improvising on the stage. Over 6 feet 6 inches tall, and a
man of immense strength and charm, he now turned his talents to tomb
robbing -- with brilliant success.
He moved great statues of Ramesses II, dug his way into the temple of
Abu Simbel, and discovered the royal tomb of Pharoah Seti I. It was
empty, but decorated with brilliant frescoes that Belzoni exhibited in
London.
Belzoni spent three years in Egypt, leaving in 1819 with an impressive
display of archaeological booty. Undoubtedly, he was one of the founders
of Egyptology, but a rough and ready one.
From:
http://id-archserve.ucsb.edu/Anth3/Courseware/History/Egypt.html
“Every
step I took, I crushed a mummy….”
Belzoni at his worst!
9 https://goo.gl/aWSsAK
Heinrich
Schliemann
A
brilliant pioneer in field archaeology, the German archaeologist
Heinrich Schliemann, b. Jan. 8, 1822, d. Dec. 26, 1890, is best known
for his excavations at ancient TROY and MYCENAE. His discoveries there
were later to establish a historical background for the stories and
legends told by Homer and Vergil that had fascinated Schliemann from
childhood.
Schliemann
was largely self-educated. Because his family was poor, he had to leave
school at the age of 14 to earn a living. He continued studying on his
own, however, showing an exceptional ability to master foreign
languages. Soon he began to exploit his remarkable aptitude for business
dealings, which enabled him to amass a large fortune early in life and
to retire at the age of 41. From then on, he devoted himself to
archaeology. He began to dig at Troy, his most famous excavation, in
1870, and later also made extraordinary discoveries at Mycenae, the
legendary home of Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Schliemann
has been criticized for using methods that seem crude by comparison with
the highly developed techniques of today. He deserves great credit,
however, for creating method where none had existed and for
demonstrating that excavation can be more than a mere treasure
hunt--that it can, in fact, restore a knowledge of lost civilizations.
Schliemann's work led to continuing investigations that are revealing in
ever-widening horizons the wonders of pre-classical Greece (6000-1000
BC). Before Schliemann, this civilization was not even known to have
existed.
(From:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Anthropology_and_Archaeology/
Archaeology/Archaeologists/Schliemann__Heinrich__1822_1890_/
)
Author Evans
It was in the late 19th century that archeology moved from being
essentially an international treasure hunt financed by wealthy
individuals (as was the case with Schliemann and Troy) to a scholarly
discipline with well-defined expectations for the conduct of an
excavation, preservation of finds and publication about ancient sites.
Evans was among a number of prominent archeologists who recognized the
need for change and helped to make it possible.
The
intrepid Englishman who shaped the way we think about Europe and the
Middle East. Sir Arthur Evans was the diminutive, fiery archaeologist
who, at an excavation in Knossos in 1900, discovered what he called the
Palace of Minos and presented to the world his stunning re-creation of
Minoan civilization. This is the first biography of a flamboyant and
very influential man--written by a scholar with unparalleled expertise
in the archaeology of Crete.
When
Evans went to Greece after a mediocre career as a journalist in the
Balkans, Heinrich Schliemann had recently uncovered what he claimed were
Troy and Mycenae, famed cities of Homer; Evans, too, wanted to verify
the factual basis for the myths that meant most to him.
3.
Draw
up a chart
(like the chart below,) listing these
archaeologists . In the first column note any
mistakes made in their early archaeological methods, and in the second
column, any contributions to the field of archaeology the different
archaeologists made.
(Optional - add an additional archaeologist if you can.)
| Archaeologist |
Mistakes - early archaeological methods |
Findings or contribution to archaeology |
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