Section 4.3 - The Archaeological excavation as operation of Harmony .... - (min. 12:07)

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En provenance du cours de Sapienza University of Rome

Recovering the Humankind's Past and Saving the Universal Heritage

129 notes

Sapienza University of Rome

Recovering the Humankind's Past and Saving the Universal Heritage

129 notes

Archaeology is, among human sciences, the discipline with the strongest importance for the rediscovery, but also for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage, as Humankind’s universal patrimony. You will be introduced to the way we ourselves reflect on and are engaged with the study of human past: from the practical and material recovery of ancient traces in the field to the study and interpretation. On the other hand, the discovery of human past implies the correct conservation and presentation for both experts and general public: the study and protection of the past we share every day prevent from any possible destruction, misuse, abuse and thus cancellation of human memory. “Recovering the Humankind's Past and Saving the Universal Heritage” presents to a large public Archaeology as a historical discipline: through an inter-disciplinary perspective you will follow the evolution and change of archaeology to the moment when natural sciences contributed to make the historical reconstructions scientifically sound; the aid of informatics and of virtual reconstructions gives new fascination to the already strong suggestion of Archaeology, as the discipline of discovery par excellence. Within this frame, Ebla, which is the glory of the Sapienza school of Oriental archaeology, will have an exemplary meaning in the course development as a long lasting experience on the field and an excellent example of the scientific results of combined researches and disciplines. Moreover, the course will focus on actual, innovative instruments to preserve, monitor and give value to cultural heritage through a multidisciplinary approach, based on a deep archaeological and historical knowledge but also on ICT technologies. The wide adoption of ICT technologies in our daily life is also impacting in the way in which we interact with our cultural heritage in particular in terms of preservation and dissemination of cultural objects. In this course you will learn the basic techniques to digitize cultural objects and obtain 3D digital copies of a physical objects such as statues, vases or archaeological sites. We will also discuss how to structure the raw data in order to facilitate and make effective the access to digital contents. In particular, we will present the European Data Model, a framework for collecting, connecting and enriching data on cultural objects provided by a number of museum, archives, sites and libraries in Europe.

À partir de la leçon

Week 4 - The birth of archaeology and its role in the contemporary world.

Material remains of the past and their state of recovery vary according also to environments. Surface surveys lead to a more intense knowledge of territories, visualizing archaeologicallandscapes in a variety of ecological situations. The objectives of archaeological research have been moulded in the historical development of the discipline. Historical sources have always been a sourceof inspiration for research, opening new problems. Chronology is a construct depending on dating tools, and scientific methods have been employed in determining an absolute chronology. Homework available since

Section 4.1 - Discovery in Archaeology, the responsability of discovering, to discover is to destroy - (min. 11:21)11:21

Section 4.2 - Stratigraphical Archaeology .... - (min. 15:28)15:28

Section 4.3 - The Archaeological excavation as operation of Harmony .... - (min. 12:07)12:07

Section 4.4 - The Archaeological interpretation .... - (min. 10:18)10:18

Rencontrer les enseignants

Paolo Matthiae
Emeritus Professor of Archaeology
Dipartimento delle Scienze dell'Antichità
Davide Nadali
PhD in Near Eastern Archaeology
Andrea Vitaletti
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Computer Science
Emanuel Demetrescu
PhD candidate

In the previous lesson we maintained that the first fascination of archeology lies,

so to say, in the concreteness and

the reality of discovery which certainly creates a special emotion

in archeologists, namely in the protagonists of a discovery as well as in

the viewers, namely in those who attend to the discovery.

This is quite true, as proved by the common experience of the archaeologists

responsible for the excavations, and of the visitors of excavations.

But there is one additional aspect of great fascination

in what is called the archaeologist’s profession.

This aspect does not concern anymore the fascination represented by the strong,

yet momentary emotion of the moment of the discovery,

it is the fascination inherent in the archaeological procedures themselves:

this fascination is not a momentary one, it is a durable one,

because it depends of the peculiarities of the procedures of field archaeology,

namely of the excavation.

And this second aspect of fascination of archaeology probably explains,

better than others, the attraction archaeology exerts on many young people.

The profession of field archaeology is one of the very few in modern world

implying a full interaction, conjunction, and

complementary, between intellectual and manual work.

Every archaeologist working in the field, who is directly engaged into

the excavation, does not act only mentally or manually.

This happens at every level of responsibility in the excavation,

from the scholar with the large experience, who directs complex and

articulated project of research in an urban center, to the young

scholar responsible for the operations on a limited sector, and finally,

certainly, also to the still young and unexperienced students

who are taking part in the excavation for the first time as part of their training.

The general strategy of a complex research project should imply both the research

perspective and the results the archeologists aim at.

The latter strongly depends on the former,

since the adequacy of methods and the general frame of

the exploration affect the results of an archaeological excavation.

Starting from the main principle that archaeology implies the destruction of

past evidences, the research must be as precise and accurate as possible:

in this respect, archaeological methods of the exploration and recovering of past

evidences have been suitably adapted for the interpretation of the past

thanks to new technologies and

important information gathered through natural sciences.

As a consequence of their use of complimentary methods, say including

preliminary considerations analyses of the archeological context via aerial and

satellite photography to study the morphology of sites and

neighboring landscape,

aim at the collection of data that excavations can properly verify or

even sometimes rectify.

The study of the morphology of the site and

the landscape through satellite images can in fact detect both the shape of area and

changes occurred across time due to the anthropic activities, on one hand,

and natural transformation of the environment, on the other.

Geomorphology, and indeed hydrogeology,

for what concerns the study of the presence of ancient water sources,

show the natural features of an archeological region, and the exploitation

of that area and sources by people, from the most ancient to recent times,

according to a diachronic analysis of occupations and settlements.

The recovery and registration of data goes through a process of classification

with indication of types of objects and items, their interpretation as used in

the archaeological context, and, of course, consideration about the chronology:

in fact, if the process of stratigraphical archaeology is useful to

recognize the single deposit and establish their correlation

according to relative chronology, the study of manufacturing and chemical and

physical composition of the items can eventually be used to

establish an absolute chronology of both the archaeological objects recovered and

the archeological context in general.

In this respect, analysis of both organic and inorganic materials

deliver precious information from the chronological point of view,

at the same time, they also improve of our knowledge of the ancient technology and

way of production;

analysis on organic materials (wood, seeds, for example as you see here in the slide),

are not only useful for 14C dating but they

make the reconstruction of ancient diet and the environment features possible.

In this respect, archaeologists take samples with great care and all

measurements are particularly important to reconstruct the archaeological context and

thus correctly interpret data and situations.

The archaeologists’ main task is the stratigraphic digging

with identification of the archaeological deposits, and, consequently, the excavation

of each context planning times of each operation.

All this must be accordingly arranged, fitting in with the need of

accurate registrations of data and measurements that are the necessary for

studying, reconstruction, and interpreting the archaeological evidence.

The registrations of a single stratigraphic unit

is the first important action:

all stratigraphic units, with the collection and

registration of materials, are then re-arranged to describe an activity and

phase of life of a single building, or more generally, of an entire site.

The superimposition of strata is the result of a dynamic process

caused by the human activities that continuously occupied a site, and

re-worked previous archaeological remains.

For that reason,

stratigraphy is the only correct process in excavating an archaeological context:

through the process of excavation, that is destruction of

the archaeological deposits, archaeologists can in fact

understand the succession of phases and the use of places and settlements.

For what concerns the reality of archaeological site in

the ancient Near East the situation of tells,

that are artificial hills, are a very interesting case study and

good exercise in comprehending the importance of stratigraphy in archaeology.

Those hills, in fact, are the results of artificial superimposition of strata of

occupation that are continuously leveled by human actions:

mud-bricks are the common material for construction in the Near East

and the decay of architectural structures made of adobe

creates the typical cone-shaped morphology of Near Eastern ancient settlements.

Human activities and natural erosions change the original shape of the site

and the careful stratigraphic excavation of a tell might, in fact,

show the continuous human occupation of the site,

on one hand, or the phase of abandonment of the settlement, on the other.

The correct registration of a superimposition of strata, with

the creation of a matrix that graphically explains the relations between

the different contexts and

archeological situations, comes to the creation of what we

can label a relative chronology of the occupation of the settlement:

after that, however, how can we precisely date an archaeological context?

All data and items collected in the excavation are suitably divided and

categorized according to specific features and classes:

material culture, the products the archaeologists are recovering in

the excavation, is properly studied, classified, and finally analyzed.

Beyond the considerations of these stylistic features and nature of

the single objects, other analysis are now currently employed by other archaeologists

to solve the problem of chronology, in trying to establish a correct

absolute chronology.

The analysis of artifacts and material culture is the only way to

get a whole comprehension of the time span of occupation of a site:

not only, it is also the way to place in the space and time the situation

of an archaeological context, explaining its function and cause.

If stratigraphy gives

a relative chronology, where the relative position of a strata is registered -

for example, A covers B, so A is later than B -

only suitable analysis on material can reveal information for

the absolute chronology of the item itself and

the archeological deposit where it was recovered.

It might in fact occur, according to what archaeologists call

an inverse stratigraphy,

that the deposits with older materials cover deposits with later materials.

When this situation is recognized, archaeological and

historical interpretation of the whole excavated context and the knowledge of

the entire settlement can in fact explain the reason of such a superimposition

of deposits where the logic succession of old and late contexts can be overturned.

Analysis of materials, getting information on the techniques of production

as well as on the chemical and

physical property of the raw materials, allow archeologist to go beyond the simple

creation of series of types of objects according to shape and external features.

Specific archaeometric analysis reveal in fact all intrinsic properties of

the materials that have been used to shape and create the objects:

so far, considerations of the evolution of the technology of

ancient societies can be studied accordingly.

At the same time, discovery of the chemical and

physical properties of the raw materials

has historical implication on the study of the origin of

the raw materials and, consequently, on the ancient trade network of

exchange and movement of both people and objects.

In the experience of the different kinds of work in the modern world,

it is well known that the great majority of professions, almost without exception,

is characterized by the prevalence, or even the exclusivity, of the mental over

the manual aspect, or vice versa, of the manual over the mental aspects;

on the other hand, it is quite rare to practice a profession where the two

aspects are equivalent with balanced presence.

A long philosophical and sociological reflection, started by the middle of

the 19th century, precisely singled out in the clear cut separation between mental

and manual aspects of the work, the main cause of alienation of modern societies.

With one formula, one may say that there is no archaeology in which mental and

manual work are not closely related and there is no

archeology where there is no development and progress of knowledge.

In this respect the study of material culture from

archaeological context is the result of both manual and mental works

in a balanced process of interpretation of the archaeological materials in

their original context with implication on

chronology, the technological knowledge of ancient societies:

specifically, archaeologists can carefully look at

the development of urban centers by considering the stratigraphy of occupations;

generally, archaeologists can also investigate the relationships of

settlements in a particular region

taking into consideration exchanges, contacts and

movements of people in the landscape.

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