Topic 1 - History, Archaeology and Science
Syllabus
•roles of history and archaeology in investigating the past, complementary nature of both disciplines
•the unique methodologies of the historian and archaeologist, the contribution of written and material remains in providing evidence of the past
•archaeological and written sources, how evidence is lost, preserved and rediscovered
•asking questions or archaeological and written sources
•historiographical issues raised by archaeological and written sources
•forensic techniques uses to bring together a coherent picture of a person, group, event and site, problems of authenticity, fakes and forgeries
•history of archaeology - changing purposes, excavations and recording techniques
•archaeological conservations and preservation - preservation techniques, the role of science and disputation over ‘reconstruction of ‘historic sciences’
•problems associated with reconstructing the past through archaeological evidence - ancient customs and religious beliefs
•different interpretations of the past
•influence of different perspectives on interpretations of the past
•significance of selectivity, emphasis and omission for the interpretation of the past
•who owns the past? who should administer the past? who presents the past?
Role of history and archaeology in unlocking the past
•Archaeology is the science of studying human history in order to reconstruct and gain an understanding of the past. Other sciences and studies need to be drawn upon to gain an accurate comprehension on how societies have impacted on the world
•History is the knowledge, narrative or record of past events and times, sometimes relating to particular person, country or period
Archaeological Sites and Excavation Methods
•Excavation
•Finding a site
•Aerial Survey such as crop marks, soil marks and shadow marks
•Satellite photography, and geophysical surveys such as using radar and magnets
•Excavations
•Most archaeological excavations are conducted for research purposes
•Can be done through a grid system, allowing archaeologists to study the vertical dimensions of a site.
•Baulks are the separating walls of the grid, laters exposed during the excavations are called strata, and the study of the strata is called stratigraphy
•Open Area Excavation, uncovers the whole site layer by layer.
•It emphasises understanding the relationship between things found in each strata
•Findings
•Machinery can be used to move the topsoil and clear the surface. Small tools such as picks, shovels, buckets, and finer tools such as brushes are used when artefacts are found
•Artefacts must remain in situ, so their location and description can be recorded before they are removed
•Visual records are made, and computers are used
•It is then carefully analysed then published
Primary, Secondary, Archaeological and Written sources, how evidence is lost, preserved, rediscovered
•A source is anything that has survived from the past and can be either primary or secondary, archaeological or written
•A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.
•All sources produced after the time being studied are called secondary sources
•Archaeological sources are the physic remains of past cultures, such remains are called artefacts
•Written sources include any materials or objects that have been written on
•Some sources can be considered both written and archaeological such as a tombstone
•Destruction
•The natural environment is one of the most obvious forms of destructions, through climate and vegetations
•Natural disasters can also wipe out significant evidence
•Human Agents of Destruction
•Warfare and conflict has caused looting of artefacts tourism can endanger archaeological sites
•Modern Development can also potentially destroy anything that lies beneath
•Pollution such as air and ground pollution can also cause significant deterioration in archaeological sites
•Preservation
•Dry climates in desert regions would preserve normally perishable objects, as the heat and absence of moisture prevent decay
•Cold climates can provide perfect conditions for the preservation of organic material such as human remains
•Geological Conditions such as the composition of the soil in which objects are buried may play a role in preservation
•Chemicals from plants or animals react with minerals from the soil that may prevent decay
•Actions of people also play a role, either deliberately or accidentally, such as burial customs
•Rediscovery
•Artefacts and monuments can be rediscovered both by design or by accident. Hoards are a good example (buried valuables in the ground)
Questions on archaeological and written sources
•Archaeological
•What is it?
•In what context was it found?
•Can it be accurately dated?
•How does its condition affect its interpretation
•Is it reliable or useful in providing evince of the past
•What evidence does this source provide about the past
•Written
•What type of written source is it?
•Who wrote it and when?
•What was the writers purpose?
•Who was the intended audience?
•Is it reliable?
•Is it useful in providing evidence about the period?
Historiographical Issues
•Distinguishing between fact and opinion
•Bias occurs when a writers objectivity is affected by attitudes about race, gender, class, political or cultural factors
•Gender bias often occurs in ancient societies, most were written by men and therefore proceed a purely male perspective
•A few prominent women portrayed in ancient sources are often performing stereotypical roles
•One sided accounts
•Sometimes our knowledge of events in the past is based on only one account when we might expect to have more than one perspective
History of archaeology
•Historiography is the study of the writing of history and written histories
•The earliest excavators were no more than treasure hinders who were keen to find treasures to sell to museums or decorate their homes
•Eventually, more scientific methods were introduced to refine and develop such archaeological investigation
•Originally, the first excavations involved using dynamite to break open walls, potentially destroying evidence, doe by Giovanni Belzoni
•Sir Flinders Petrie was among the first to use dating techniques
•Mortimer Wheeler used precisions methods, revolutionising field archaeology
•Arthur Evans discovered the Minoan civilisation
•Howard Carter unearthed Tutankhamen’s tomb
•Heinrich Schliemann revealed the Mycenaean civilisation and discovered troy
Dating Methods - Absolute and Relative, Fakes and Forgeries
•Dating
•Relative Dating
•Relative Dating gives archaeologists a general idea of the date of an object, objects found in the same strata can be relatively dated if found with artefacts that are absolutely dated
•Stratigraphic dating (by strata)
•Typology and Seriation Dating
•The Three Age System (Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic)
•Absolute Dating
•Absolute Dating is the exact dating of an object, for examples inscriptions of dates and documents with dates
•Radiocarbon Dating - The use of Carbon-14 to measure disintegration of carbon molecules
•Dendrochronology - Counting tree rings
•XRF and DNA Analysis, typology, thermoluminescence and stratigraphy
•Facial Reconstructions
•Fakes and forgeries
•The fascination of the past, and the enormous profits to be made, have tempted people the pass of fall artefacts as the real thing
•Advances in scientific techniques often enable such fakes to be revealed more readily than in the past
Ethics
•Heritage
•Heritage is regarded as those things passed down through generations that give a sense of identity and belonging. There is family, community, national and international heritage
•Who owns the past?
•The issue of ownership can be both legal and moral
•Before there were laws preventing ancient artefacts from being taken out of their countries and origins, finds were considered ‘finders keepers’
•This is why museums have such large collections of antiquities
•Many antiquities have been acquired from private collectors and have largely disappeared from public view
•Who administers and presents the past?
•Those who administer the past are its keeps or custodians. They are responsible for the cost of its upkeep and preservation
•Today museums are the main repositories of the past
Topic 2 - Tutankhamun’s Tomb
Syllabus
•its discovery and excavation by Howard Carter
•consideration of the following aspects of the tomb and what they suggest about Egypt at the time of Tutankhamen: size and structure, burial furniture, possessions, decorations, afterlife
•details of burial customs - mummification, funeral procession and burial
•tomb paintings and the information they provide about burial: deities, and funerary beliefs and practices
•roles and responsibilities of a king in New Kingdom Egypt
•archaeological/written evidence of the uniqueness of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Eighteenth Dynasty
•Tutankhamun and popular culture
Discovery
•Through several excavations in the past century, many excavators declared that there was nothing left to find in Egypt.
•World War 1 in 1914 almost ceased Carter’s work in Egypt, but in 1917, Carter and his sponsor Lord Canarvon, began searching in The Valley of The Kings.
•They spent a number of years, and a large sum of money, searching for something they were unsure that even existed, Tutankhamen’s tomb.
•Carter soon discovered several pieces of evidence, a faience cup, a piece of gold foil, and a cache of funerary items which all bore the name of Tutankhamen. Carter was determined to systematically search the area where the artefacts were found by excavating down to the bedrock.
•Over many years of searching, Carter and his workers discovered a step that had been cut into the rock on November 1922.
•Over the next few days, a total of 12 steps were unearthed, and in front of the steps, was the top plastered door, where the seals gave the impression that it was the resting place of a royal necropolis.
•Three weeks later, 16 steps were revealed, and seals on the bottom of the door read Tutankhamen.
•On the morning of the 25th of November. the door was photographed and opened
Excavation
•The tomb consisted of two main rooms, the Burial Chamber, where the King lay, and the antechamber, a room filled from bottom to top with artefacts and ancient items.
•Antechamber
•Before excavation began, each item was numbered and photographed in situ, they were then documented, and a brief description written
•The chamber was a small room, and the items tangled within one another, so a series of supports and pulleys had to be used to successfully remove the items without causing damage.
•The items were placed on sketchers then wrapped and carried carefully out of the tomb
•Burial Chamber
•The burial chamber consisted of yellow, painted walls, various small items such as necklaces and the shrine containing Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus.
•After dismantling the first shrine, it appeared as though there were four shines in total, each weighing about 500kg.
•Before Carter could finish opening the four sarcophagi, he was involved in an argument with the Antiquities Service and abandoned the excavation, heading to the United States.
•In 1925, Carter resumed excavation. All sarcophagi were carefully removed, revealing a series of coffins, in which the mummy of Tutankhamen lay inside.
Aspects of the Tomb compared to 18th dynasty tombs
•It was usual for a pharaoh to spend a considerable part of his reign preparing for his tomb
•Because of Tutankhamun’s young death, there was no time to prepare on the a lavish scale seen in other royal tombs in the period. Tutankhamun’s tomb was originally designed for a private not a pharaoh
•Tombs in the 18th Dynasty, usually had the same sizes, and the same decorations as other tombs
•Structure and Decorations are similar to typical 19th dynasty tombs such as Amenhotep, Setit and Ramases
•Tutankhamun’s tomb is significantly smaller, only containing two main rooms
•Wall paintings are restricted to the burial chamber
•The condition of Tutankhamun’s tomb was rushed, artefacts and items were strewn in poor manner
•Tutankhamun’s tomb contained more preserved burial furniture and possessions than any other tomb
•Some 18th Dynasty Tombs were damaged by natural causes, and Tutankhamun’s tomb lay across a fault line
•The coffin and the sarcophagus were the only aspects in the tomb that showed much significance to an 18th Dynasty Tomb
Burial Customs
•Mummification
•When the pharaoh died, his body was prepared for burial by embalmers who carried out the important ritual of mummification
•In Herodotus’ description of mummification he describes:
•The brain is removed, contents of abdomen removed, body is covered in natrum for seventy days, it is ten washed and wrapped completely with linen
•The aim of mummification was not to preserve a body, but to create a new body that would last for eternity, or to house a person’s ka and ba (non physical parts of a person)
•Funeral Procession and Burial
•Opening of the Mouth Ceremony
•The opening of the Mouth Ceremony was an ancient Egyptian ritual
•It involves the symbolic animation of a statue or a mummy by magically opening its mouth so that it could breathe or speak
•A painting on the east side of the burial chamber depicts Tutankhamun's mummy lying on a bier sitting on a middle of a boat
•Isis and Nephthys can be seen on the sides of the bier, twelve court officials and viziers are seen pulling the boat across the sand
Tomb Paintings/Religious Themes in The Tomb
•Unlike other royal tombs, Tutankhamun’s tomb’s paintings were restricted to the Burial Chamber
•The scenes depict the funeral procession, the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ceremony, and the pharaoh being welcomed into the afterlife by a range of deities
•All scenes were oriented toward the West Wall, which contained a detail from the royal funerary text, Amduat
•Wall Paintings and Osiris, the god of the afterlife, underworld and the dead
•In the first scene, Tutankhamun is represented as Osiris
•In the third scene, Tutankhamun is painted embracing Osiris
Tutankhamun and Popular Culture
•Tutmania was expressed in a number of different media during the 1920s
•Egyptian motifs appeared everywhere in architecture, art and jewellery
•Tutankhamun’s curse, the opening of the tomb gave birth to the phenomenon of Tutankhamun’s curse, example:
•A cobra, attacked and swallowed Carter’s pet canary
•The Death of Canarvon from pneumonia
Pharaohs Role - religious leader, warrior, hunter, administrator
•Religious Leader
•The Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was the political and religious leader of the people and held the titles 'Lord of the Two Lands’ and 'High Priest of Every Temple’.
•They were seen as mortal reincarnations of Horus, and ancient Egyptian God
•Administrator
•Pharaohs main responsibility was maintaining universal order, known as Ma’at
•Pharaoh also had to ensure the land was productive and profitable and the people obeyed the law.
•The Pharaoh was believed to have the ability to see good and evil, and the divine authority to make laws and to punish those who broke them.
•Hunter, Warrior
•Another of the Pharaoh's sacred duties was the responsibility for defending the Egypt's borders.
•The Pharaoh was in charge of both the army and the navy, and was expected to make war on other countries to gain land and resources, to protect Egypt, and keep foreigners out.
•Even in making war, all of the Pharaoh's actions were seen as essential to maintaining Ma'at
Topic 3 - Bronze Age Aegean Societies - Crete and Thera
Syllabus
Crete and Thera
•location of Crete/Thera in relation to mainland Greece
•discovery and excavations at Crete / Thera, Arthur Evans and Spyridon Martinos
•wall paintings and frescoes
•pottery, architecture and trade
•relationship of Minoan civilisation on Crete
•role of the eruption at Thera in ending the Minoan civilisation
•significance of the site
Crete and Thera
Location
•The Santorini Volcanic Archipelago is made up of 5 islands located in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Crete.
•It is part of the Cyclades island region
Discovery/Excavations
•Spyridon Marinatos
•In the 1930s Spyridon developed a theory that the sudden destruction of the Minoan civilisation was linked to the eruption of the Theran Volcano
•Marinatos began excavations on Thera in 1967, resulting in spectacular finds
•Arthur Evans
•Responsible for the excavations, conservation and reconstruction of the Palace of Knossos, revealing the Minoan civilisation
Akrotiri
•Part of the Cyclades region, the tiny island of Thera boasts ancient archaeological sites from the Bronze Age such as the town of Akrotiri
•The progress and prosperity of this island came to an end after the volcanic eruption, covering the island in ash
•Spyridon Martinos was responsible for the excavations of Akrotiri in 1967
•Excavators estimate Akrotiri to be a town of several thousand inhabitants
Wall Paintings and Frescoes
Theran and Minoan
Techniques:
•Buon Fresco : Paint applied to wet plaster, ensures better preservation as plaster absorbs paint. Fragments of frescoes discovered today with good colour quality.
•Fresco secco: Paint applied to dry fresco, flaking paint and poor preservation
•Use of mineral pigments, organic glue and limited colours such as blue, black red, brown and yellow
•Paintings can cover entire walls, and even entire rooms, and were divided into three registers
•Subjects include geometric motifs, buildings or structures, abstract patters, plants, domestic and wild animals and humans
•One key aspect of Minoan and Theran painting is the naturalism (realistic representation) of animals, plants and materials
•Frescoes dominated Minoan Palaces, such as Bull Leaping Fresco
•Frescoes found in private and public housing in Thera include Young Boxers, The Admirals fresco, The Spring Fresco and the Naval Campaign Fresco