Ceramic bowl, copper axe head, stone goddess figurine, animal bone comb, woven reed mat, leather loincloth and sandals, ground ochre pigment, leather cap Questions: 1. Which of these artifacts are made of materials that would most likely preserve in any kind of environmental condition? 2. Which of these artifacts are made of material that would probably not preserve very well except under ideal environmental conditions? 3. What is a cultural formation proces and what kinds might have taken place in this case
Lab Section: The Archaeological Record and Formation Processes
about the nature and quality of the archaeological record, including thevarious processes that lead to its formation and the differential preservation of material.
Background
In 1991, a German couple chanced upon the frozen body of a middle-aged man while hiking in the Tyrolean Alps (see textbook pp. 54-55). Initially, Austrian authorities believed this to be the remains of an unfortunate but modern hiker. However, a closer look at the artifacts associated with the remains confirmed the unexpected: The Iceman, as he came to be called, was born around 5300 cal. BP and is the oldest fully preserved human body yet found.
While the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear, archaeologists do know that the Iceman was not intentionally buried. While intentional human burials do offer a wealth of information to archaeologists, the artifacts found associated with the Iceman are not from a ritual context. In other words, the Iceman and his equipment represent a snapshot of everyday activity in the Neolithic and achance for archaeologists to study what life was really like over 5000 years ago.
The following is the complete list of artifacts that were found associated with the human remains:
The archaeologists also found evidence that the following events occurred at the find site:
A curious hiker pulled the copper axe head out of the ice before archaeologists arrived
Glacier movement had scattered some of the artifacts associated with the body
A particularly warm period in the mid-19th century resulted in the Iceman's left foot being partially exposedfor a time. It is poorly preserved.
A survey team unknowingly damaged the right side of the human remains while placing a geographic markershortly after World War II.
Ceramic bowl, copper axe head, stone goddess figurine, animal bone comb, woven reed mat, leather loincloth and sandals, ground ochre pigment, leather cap
Questions:
1. Which of these artifacts are made of materials that would most likely preserve in any kind of environmental condition?
2. Which of these artifacts are made of material that would probably not preserve very well except under ideal environmental conditions?
3. What is a cultural formation proces and what kinds might have taken place in this case
4. What is a natural formation process and what are some kinds that might have taken place in this case?
5. Some of these artifacts found are likely to have survived because environments over time were relatively stable. In a few sentences, explain what these were and why.
6. Define what is meant by archaeological context and the archaeological record. Why is it important for understanding the kinds of artifacts found like those with the Iceman?
7. Well preserved finds such as the Iceman are extremely rare. Most of the archaeological record is fragmentary and time-averaged. What does it mean that the archaeological record is time-averaged? What is the implication of time- averaging for what we can say about the archaeological record?
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