Meanwhile, the most common materials from the pandemicincluding discarded gloves and sanitization productshad been cleaned up or had begun to break down. Ranges were extrapolated from Google Timeline when available (Venovcevs) or from memory of each individual's regular movement through the city (Magnani, Magnani, and Farstadvoll). b. the depth of natural levels is determined by statistical sampling strategies, while arbitrary levels are chosen subjectively. Students may exchange the created fictitious records from their group with another group. bringing them back from the field. C. a very large number of cow bones. Each of us maintained a journal or log according to our individual preferences, which ultimately informed a final synthesis of our observations. With a case study from the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, we provide accessible tools to document broad spatial and behavioral patterns through material culture as they emerge. c. you fear that the 1/4" mesh of the screen may allow most of the very small fish bones to pass through; you decide to switch to 1/8" mesh, and maybe even screen a sample of dirt through 1/16" mesh to see if you are finding few bones because they are not present, or because the screening method is systematically losing them. Unidentifiable pieces of plastic or paper, candy wrappers, and tobacco products such as cigarette butts and snuff were left unmapped due to the time that would be required to plot them and their limited analytical value to our study. a. which side of an artifact was "up" when it was uncovered. To spot a cut, an archaeologist has to study the context that has been cut into and the context that fills the cut. When determining whether or not field school students understand archaeological field Some of these features and profile functionality require users to Link their ORCID account. a. expose living floors. Once the dig is done, archaeologists have a professional responsibility to analyze all the artifacts and information obtained, to report on their research, and to curate the collections. This research uncovers the written records associated with the study area. They may screen (sift) the soil to recover small artifacts and often draw profiles of the test pits to record what the soil looks like in each hole. In most cases recording should take place only after finds have been cleaned, dried and marked. Reference Schofield, Wyles, Doherty, Donnelly, Jones and Porter2020). Others, like tape measures, toothbrushes, and Reference Magnani, Douglass and Porter2016). For example, they might weigh all the oyster shells together or count all the nails and consider them as one unit. Inventorying continued through our shopping trips into May 2020. b. obtain information that would allow them to reconstruct the activities that took place on discrete living floors. d. also clarify chronology, but on a larger scale. research question. b. carbonized plant remains and very small bone fragments will float when submerged in water, while heavier items (including dirt) will not. 16. Those documents and samples are just as important as the artifacts found nearby. Behavioral change was likely a driving factor in the evolution of our species, and archaeology therefore plays a central role in understanding human origins from the beginning of the known archaeological record some 2.5 million years ago. out of a sand dune after a storm. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be conducted over a few weeks to several years. Considering its potential for intervention in ongoing events, we promote reflexive techniques that are responsive to contextin this case, shaped by social distancing and responsibility to do no harm (see also Kiddey Reference Kiddey2017). Provide each group with: Divide the class into groups. If there are plans for highway or housing These reports will describe what the archaeologist found in this area during any previous investigations. Students should record in their ongoing field notes, the numbers for and types of records kept for the site under investigation. Clindaniel, Jon b. how organic remains can be remarkably preserved if saturated by water and sealed in an anaerobic environment. a. maintain three-dimensional control of the finds. This edge is called the profile. a. how water can destroy structures and organic remains that would normally be preserved in dry conditions. a. that involves hand sorting of processed bulk soil samples for minute artifacts and The Archiving the Archaeologists series is an oral history project of video interviews of neutron activation analysis now allows us to trace the origin of the raw materials used in Maya ceramic pots, collected over a hundred years ago. b. how organic remains can be remarkably preserved if saturated by water and sealed in an anaerobic environment. And they usually excavate only a small part of any site. Our first survey corresponded with a period of rapid snowmelt on April 8, 2020, which revealed a substantial quantity of materials dropped before and during the pandemic. Hostname: page-component-7fc98996b9-pxj8b Excavation An excavation is the uncovering of what's beneath the ground, and recording it. Excavation methods are the various techniques used within archaeology to dig, uncover, identify, process, and record archaeological remains. a. Map of the study area in northern Norway by Anatolijs Venovcevs, with each of the authors regular ranges. Archaeology is a destructive sciencemeaning that once a site is excavated, it is gone forever. A test excavation would be most appropriate in which of the following situations? such as houses, barns, longhouses, and earthen lodges. This system allows the archaeologist to create a precise map and to record the exact location of all During For example, whereas one author primarily logged the pandemic through photos, another kept a detailed journal of observations on her phone's notepad. rings each year and the size of the rings will vary depending upon rainfall received each year. c. Or, the sites may or may not be "significant" as defined by the law in Sample of materials recorded during surveys of the downtown area photographed on April 20, 2020: (top left) antibacterial screen wipes; (top right) winter and protective gloves; (bottom left) shopping receipt; (bottom right) antibacterial hand sanitizer. d. natural levels are much simpler and faster to excavate than arbitrary levels. b. in situ. Why? We inferred approximate times of deposition, based on an object's origin and type (e.g., we would assume something came from before the pandemic if derived either from a business we knew to be closed at the time of our survey or from a behavior, such as clubbing, unlikely to be occurring illegally in Troms at the time). c. natural level is a vertical subdivision based on natural breaks in sediments and arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision used only when natural strata are lacking or more than 10 cm deep. These assemblages may develop through protests like Occupy Wall Street (Simms and Riel-Salvatore Reference Simms and Riel-Salvatore2016), the Women's March following Donald Trump's election (Black Reference Black2017), or the Black Lives Matter movement (for a call to recover its material culture, see National Museum of African American History and Culture et al. Discarded face masks, relatively uncommon in Norway throughout the first wave of the pandemic, were absent from the systematic surveys reported in this article (although they became prominent in later waves as discussed in Magnani et al. For example, bread slicing machines in some supermarkets were shut down. At the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, Norwegian residents were permitted to move freely within respective towns and regions (in compliance with travel restrictions) but were advised to keep distance from one another and limit gathering. c. it proved the extent of human antiquity in the Americas. 27. Government action prompted changing social behaviors and, ultimately, new forms of innovative practices to mitigate the spread of the virus. Extremely sensitive to metal, it measures variations in the magnetic field and can indicate the presence of large features. Feature Flags: { (singular, stratum) More or less homogeneous or gradational material, visually U.S. have their own review processes, and some tribes have their own archaeology programs that control access to sites on tribal lands. Many temporary, transient sites occur unexpectedly and end just as rapidly. Exceptions include registered finds that require remedial conservation or specialist cleaning, or plotted finds that are initially recorded in situ. The Viral Archive, for example, was established to crowdsource contributor images on Twitter (@Viral_Archive). a. a distinct buried surface on which people lived. Because we lived in three different locations, we frequented different areas of the city as part of our weekly routines (see again Figure 1). b. federal legislation mandates abundant, accurate, and detailed field notes. To begin, they will collect surface artifacts, then remove any ground vegetation. Following the identification of a contemporary event of interest, and a preliminary evaluation of the context at hand, archaeologists must tailor their data collection protocols. There are non-invasive techniques archaeologists can use to find sites without digging. Excavations can last from days to years, and can done as part of academic research or the commercial / developmental process. Specific graphing techniques have been developed to aid archaeologists in recording this information. d. tiny fragments of carbonized plant remains must be recovered. Leveled by Selected text level a. Photogrammetry allows complex datasets to be collected with minimal expertise, cost, and time investment. c. the zero point that is fixed and can be used as a reference point. The information that they find out can help to date the site, and helps with the interpretation of the site. Students write field notes about the site of the other group and create a data base for it. Stories passed down about your family history and traditions that your family observes are It is based on the principle that trees produce growth Our study suggests that the materials ultimately associated with the coronavirus may postdate the height of the pandemic, replacing or becoming more numerous than early local innovations meant to reduce the transmission of disease. Our three surveys showed deviations from health advisories in unexpected directions (see Figure 4)for instance, manifesting in the widespread use of gloves against the direct advice of the government or in the near-complete closure of nonessential businesses. Mostly this takes place on or planning for research projects to answer questions and test hypotheses about past cultures. Archaeology Archaeology is the study of the human past using material remains. b. age. Name three kinds of records kept by an archaeologists. a. arbitrary levels can potentially jumble together artifacts that come from different natural strata and thus different periods of time. We selected a glove, mask, and painted rock to model using photogrammetry, recording both the objects and their immediate contexts (e.g., pavement, seashore, rocks) in high detail. She filed a suit in a U.S. federal court against UBS AG, a Switzerland-based global financial services company. If an archaeologist is excavating in arbitrary levels: Contemporary archaeology has the potential to contribute to a burgeoning citizen science that is emerging not only in archaeology (e.g., Seitsonen Reference Seitsonen2017) but also in other fieldsfor instance, in the biological sciences (e.g., Silvertown Reference Silvertown2009) and the broader digital humanities. While the vertical excavation strategy at Gatecliff was designed to clarify chronology, the horizontal excavation strategy was designed to: After conducting a survey, archaeologists will have enough information to determine if any significant archaeological sites are in the study area. These clues help us put together a picture of what life was like a long time ago. oldest layers are on the bottom and the most recent layers are on the top. c. artifacts are expected to be small and/or difficult to find without washing. As involuntary participants in the events, our observations of the coronavirus in Troms, an island city in northern Norway (see Figure 1), took place between March 12, 2020, and April 2021. To respond quickly, our methodology relied entirely on materials we had on hand. Think of it as a diagram that has the latest layer at the top, the earliest layer at the bottom, and all the other actions of cuts, fills and depositions in between. The analysis will depend on the archaeologist's research questions from the beginning of the project. Although they demonstrate that practicing archaeology during a crisis can be a form of coping itself (Camp Reference Camp2020), they emphasize the importance of reflecting on and minimizing health and social risks (Angelo et al. The importance of plants in prehistoric diets was largely unknown until which of the following techniques was used? Reference Magnani, Magnani, Venovcevs and Farstadvoll2022). d. none of the above; it is not essential because archaeologists can always go back and reconstruct the excavation later. Improvised barriers blocked off seating, and construction tape guided movements at registers and places where lines formed. Many small businesses that served food exceeded health recommendations by closing, whereas others switched to providing takeout. Before removing any soil or artifacts from a site, they create a site grid. We used a GPS logger (Garmin GPSMAP 62sc) to document our tracks through the city, and we marked individual pieces of trash using a free smartphone geologging app named Mapit GIS, accurate to 4m. Recording tracks is also possible for free or inexpensively using a variety of GPS logging applications available on smartphones. This is called the Law of Superposition and is one of the most important principles in archaeology. 26. The authors would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers who improved this piece significantly through their critical commentary. Think of it as a diagram that has the latest layer at the top, the earliest layer at the bottom, and all the other actions of cuts, fills and depositions in between. We recorded artifacts that could clearly be attributed to before and during the coronavirus, and be linked to activities including commerce, socialization, and disease mitigation. This will include previous archaeological research reports about sites View all Google Scholar citations Drawing on a case study from the recent COVID-19 pandemic as it manifested in Troms, Norway, in the spring of 2020, we provide a scalable approach accessible to scholars and members of the public. Students should discuss what their own garbage would tell an archaeologist about their lives at home and in general about the lives of people from our times. Data for this manuscript is available by request from the corresponding author. USQ Vice-Chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie said Sunday the university was relieved to hear their much-loved colleague and his research team had been released. a. natural level is a vertical subdivision and an arbitrary level is a horizontal subdivision. C. sorghum grown in slave gardens. d. the relative ease of underwater excavation compared to excavations on dry land. Reference Angelo, Britt, Lou Brown and Camp2021). For instance, The methods used by archaeologists to gather data can apply to any time period, including the recent past. hole collected by the archaeologist are part of the scientific record of that feature. Water-screening is an especially useful technique when: 11. Leonhardt begins his essay with an anecdote. Distribution of discarded materials found during the three reported surveys. In the absence of interviewees, we came to focus on these signs as one of the most ubiquitous and visible testaments to the pandemic's impact across the city. 108108108 The methods used to find sites will depend on the kind of research questions that the archaeologist is trying to answer. 10. It has been explained that contexts describe an action that has an effect on the stratigraphic record. Magnani, Matthew It's cold and wet, hard work, long hours, short contracts, little to no job security and pisspoor pay. A team of archaeologists will walk in straight lines back and forth across the study area. c. the importance of archaeological survey in high altitude mountain settings. Whereas some initiated collection, others called attention to the ubiquitous plastics spreading across the landscape, addressing how archaeological perspectives might be deployed to shape policy surrounding the growing problem of pandemic waste (Schofield et al. Magnani, Matthew Magnani, Natalia The datum point provides a universal reference point that can be used across any archaeological site, allowing archaeologists to easily compare data between excavations. In this article, we present a material-based methodology to record and analyze ephemeral events as they unfold. At Castle Rock Pueblo in southwestern Colorado, archaeologists Some of the different roles in post-ex will be explored in the coming weeks. If there are no previously recorded sites, the archaeologist Examples of geophysical surveys that do not disturb the soil include magnetometry, resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar. In archeology, a living floor refers to: a. archaeology destroys data as it is gathered; once a site is excavated it cannot be re- excavated. In earlier problem, you developed a payoff table for building a small factory or a large factory for manufacturing designer jeans. d. in which sediment is placed in a screen and the matrix is washed away with hoses. None of us owned a vehicle, and public transportation was avoided and rarely utilized. a. a. that involves hand sorting of processed bulk soil samples for minute artifacts and 1. The Folsom site in New Mexico was discovered by: Reference Magnani, Magnani, Venovcevs and Farstadvoll2022). b. in place. At the Smithsonian Institutions Department of Anthropology, The hardware and software requirements are minimal, based predominantly on smartphones, open-source platforms, and widely available programs. This means that the archaeologist cuts the feature in half. Other nations have civil law systems. But if an artifact of known age (such A feature might be a stain in the soil that is evidence of a former fence post. Provenience is essential to an artifact's: The cut may have been filled immediately after the action of the cut, or many years later. Such studies may shed light on diverse social phenomena as they unfold and may inform their memorialization. We decided to model a small subset of materials associated with the pandemic in Troms, which we expected to quickly degrade or be cleaned up. b. Believe it or not archaeologists rarely excavate (dig) entire sites! Because material culture influences the way events are rememberedthat is, a common or durable object is more likely to circulate and evoke memories of these events in the futurethe most ubiquitous state and corporate representations will likely have an impact on the pandemic's historicization in Norway. Each state has a responsibility to store the millions of artifacts recovered from surface collections or excavations within its boundaries. newspapers, land and tax records, and diaries or letters. 1,000,000 & 0.2 B. sorghum grown in slave gardens. Their presence and changes recorded local ways of coping as they intersected with national health measures in Norway. Floor stickers encouraging patrons to keep their distance increasingly replaced temporary floor tape by mid-April. A cut is referred to as a negative feature, because you can only see the aftermath of the action i.e a cut has removed material. When archaeologists dig excavation units, they are concerned with: 7. The initial finds record is a product of finds processing. As an archaeologist you may need to: identify and survey sites using a variety of methods, including field walking, geophysical surveys, aerial photography and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology. Archaeologists use trowels to scrape away thin layers of soil from test units, or holes in the ground. the state, other states have created centralized archaeology storage facilities. 20. When digging, if an archaeologist is creating an artificial edge (like the edges of a trench or a section through a feature) then the edges have to be vertical as straight as possible. The FieldRichard B. Woodbury In simplest terms, archeology can be defined as the anthropology of extinct cultures. is only a sample of the many physical and chemical dating methods that archaeologists use to date archaeological sites and artifacts. Over time, both natural processes like the decay of organic matter, and cultural processes (caused by humans), create soil layers. Finally, additional pictures were taken to generate three-dimensional models of some objects of interest (following modified protocols seen in Magnani et al. This term refers to the work that is carried out post (or after) excavation. The artifacts and information gathered remain, but the site itself can never be The type of material the artifact is made of is another important piece of information. documents. c. artifact provenience is the most important information an archaeologist can record during an excavation. By recording the provenience of all artifacts encountered in situ during Gatecliff's excavations, the archaeologists were trying to: d. a CD player. c. When a research question must be answered with a limited amount of time and money. d. a distinct surface where living organisms can still be detected. Regardless, the archaeologist will write and file a site report with the State Historic After approximately one month, we felt comfortable conducting a set of systematic walks around the city following social distancing guidelines. c. arbitrary levels follow the natural stratigraphy, which may not be able to distinguish between occupational surfaces. For every minute an archaeologist spends excavating, s/he seems to spend about ten minutes doing some form of paper work. a. a cave, where conditions remain permanently cool and dry. Chuck Spencer: Archaeology is the study of how people lived in the past. d. Flotation. The process of flotation is based on the principle that: c. a field, exposed to hot, dry conditions with periodic rainfall. The Folsom site is important in the history of American archaeology because: The properly conducted archaeological field work is usually slow and may be a bit boring, especially when compared to Hollywood versions of archaeology. While historians and archaeologists both use written documents to learn about the past, only archaeologists interpret archaeological sites. They may also look at how the site In seeking a critical and reflexive approach to an archaeology of COVID-19, we point to the work of Stacey Camp and colleagues, who thoughtfully reflect on their positionalities and privilege. Considered a useful starting point for archaeologists who wish to understand the lifestyles of people who lived in the past, the study of living human cultures and communities is called: ethnography. Many archaeologists will become very attached to theirtrowel (even naming them), and will take them on excavations across theworld. Why does context matter? How do archaeologists recover the smallest artifacts and eco-facts? 500,000 & 0.2 \\ Archaeologists also rely on methods from other fields such as history, botany, geology, and soil science. It can provide information up to 15m. When is it appropriate to conduct fieldwork surrounding current events, and how should that fieldwork be structured? Shopping baskets were removed or unlocked to avoid unnecessary cleaning or contact. Although restaurants and stores remained open, many establishments and institutions were ordered to close in early March, and a phased reopening began at the end of April. a.how cold conditions can inhibit decomposition of organic material by preventing the production of microorganisms that cause decay. Otzi, the Ice Man of the Alps, provides an example of: The archaeologist can then study the profile to understand the stratigraphy. For example, I study the ancient Zapotec people who lived more than 2,000 years ago . d. both a permanently dry, cool cave and a permanently wet bog. Click on the heading for more detail of how to spot a context and understand what it is. But how can scholars respond to rapidly occurring events in which they unexpectedly find themselves? 12. The State Historic Preservation Office maintains documentation files for all the recorded archaeological sites in each state. 19. The technique is increasingly used within and beyond academic contexts, from the scale of subcentimeter objects to landscapes (for reviews of the history and recent applications of the technique, see Magnani and Douglass Reference Magnani, Douglass and Lpez Varela2018; Magnani et al. Magnani, Natalia The locations a. archaeology destroys data as it is gathered; once a site is excavated it cannot be re- excavated. In the days following an initial panic, quickly fashioned closure signs spread out across the city. In most cases the laye Such protocols are practicable by not only academic archaeologists but also members of an interested public. they are analyzing relates to other sites. Material culture deployed late by state and corporate actors may overshadow local responses to the virus, and we suggest that memories of the pandemic may be impacted by these mass-produced materials.