ANTH 140: Intro to Archaeology
Assignment: Relative and Absolute Dating
Background:
In Chapter 4 you learned about the importance of chronology to
the archaeological study of the past. Archaeologists employ a number of
relative and absolute
dating methods to establish the chronological sequence
of the site or artifacts that they are studying. Even in instances where absolute
dates are known, techniques normally used for relative dating, such as
seriation, can be employed to gain insight into exactly how things in the past
changed. For example, archaeologists have used seriation techniques on 17th-
and 19th-century New England tombstones to produce charts with
characteristic battleship curves
. A careful reading of these charts has given archaeologists a
significant amount of information about how these tombstone designs have peaked and declined
in popularity over time (see pp.112–14).
Your Project:
Since the 1930s, rumor has had it that Mother Goose, the supposedly fictional writer of many
of our best-loved nursery rhymes, was not only a real person but that she is buried in Boston’s
Granary Burial Ground. Indeed, there exists a well-preserved 17th-century tombstone in the
burial ground decorated with a winged skull pattern and inscribed with the name Mary Goose.
You have decided to investigate this burial ground and the Mary Goose grave in
particular. Although you know that you cannot solve the Mother Goose riddle once and for all,
you do have many techniques at your disposal to learn more about the burial.
To better understand how the Mary Goose burial fits in with the history of the
publication of Mother Goose nursery rhymes you need to get a sense of when the individual
buried in the Granary Burial Ground lived and died. You know that the headstone records her
death as occurring in 1690, however you wish to provide independent confirmation of this. The
Boston Historical Society might even fund your research!
** Write
a
short
project
proposal
to
the
Boston
Historical
Society
outlining
how you could
determine
when
Mary
Goose
died
using
methods
mentioned
in
your textbook.
Discuss the
strengths
and
weaknesses
of the
available
dating
methods
and
make
the
case
for the
particular method
that
you think
would
work best
in
this
situation. **
Questions [each answer should be a minimum of one paragraph—4-6 sentences in length]:
1. The earliest grave at the Granary Burial Ground in Boston dates to the year 1660. With this in mind, what are some of the dating techniques mentioned in your book that would not work on
the burials at that site? Why?
2. Later, you discover that, years ago, the gravestones in Granary Burial Ground were moved
from their original locations and placed into neat rows, perhaps to make the cemetery easier
to care for. Does the fact that Mary Goose is probably not buried beneath her gravestone
affect any of the possible dating techniques that you suggested? Why?
