_Archaeology_ (also spelled _archeology_): In the United States,
archaeology is taught and practiced as one of the four major subfields
of anthropology (with anthropological linguistics, physical
anthropology, and cultural anthropology). The aim of archaeology is the
understanding of past human societies. Archaeologists not only attempt
to discover and describe past cultures, but also to develop explanations
for the development of cultures.
_Archaeologist_: Anyone with an interest in the aims and methods of
archaeology. At a professional level, the archaeologist usually holds a
degree in anthropology, with a specialization in archaeology (see
_Archaeology_). The professional archaeologist is one who is capable of
collecting archaeological information in a proper scientific way, and
interpreting that information in light of existing scientific theories
and methods.
_Archaeological Survey_: The archaeological survey is a study intended
to compile an inventory of archaeological remains within a given area.
Usually a survey is an extensive rather than an intensive phase of
archaeological study. The objective is to form the most complete and
representative picture possible of the archaeological remains found
within a defined area. Surveys may be based upon a wide variety of
methods, including on-foot examinations of the ground surface, brief
digging, talking with people who know where archaeological sites are to
be found, consulting historical records, and looking at satellite photos
of an area.
_Archaeological Testing_: Archaeological testing involves carrying out
limited-scale testing of archaeological sites (see _Site_). Testing
attempts to dig only enough to determine the extent, content and state
of preservation within an archaeological site.
_Artifact_: Any object that shows evidence of modification by a human
agency. Examples of artifacts are spear points chipped from flint,
animal bones burned during preparation of a meal, fragments of pottery
vessels and coins. Whether ancient or recent, artifacts are the traces
of human behavior, and therefore one of the prime categories of things
studied by archaeologists (see also _Context_).
_Conservation Archaeology_: A subfield of archaeology whose primary
objective is informed management of archaeological remains and
information. Working with private and public agencies, conservation
archaeologists provide information that will allow archaeological
properties and information to be effectively managed for the benefit of
future generations. In this context, archaeological values are a natural
resource of the nation, to be wisely conserved for the future (see
_Cultural Resource Management_).
_Context_, or _Archaeological Context_: The setting from which
archaeological objects (see _Artifacts_) are taken. Usually the meaning
of archaeological objects cannot be discerned without information about
their setting. One example is determining how old an object is, given
that the age of objects excavated from a site varies with their depth in
the ground. Unless the depth of an object is carefully recorded against
a fixed point of reference, it may be impossible to relate objects to
the dimension of time.
_Cultural Resource Management_: Development of programs and policies
aimed at conservation of archaeological properties and information. Such
programs exist within the federal and state governments, academic
institutions and private agencies.
_Cumberland Dwelling_: An architectural style named for its common
occurrence throughout middle Tennessee. These dwellings have two front
rooms of about equal size and front doors, with any additional rooms
added onto the rear of the building.
_Data Recovery_: In the context of cultural resource management (see
definition) studies, data recovery refers to relatively large-scale
excavation designed to remove important objects and information from an
archaeological site prior to its planned destruction. Data recovery is
only undertaken after it is shown that preservation of the site in place
is not a feasible course of action in the project in question.
Scientific data are recovered to answer important scientific and
cultural questions.
_Debitage_: A term meaning the characteristic types of stone flakes
produced from manufacture of prehistoric stone tools by chipping (as,
for example, stone spear and arrow points). One of the most common types
of prehistoric artifacts, these distinctive flakes frequently alert the
archaeologist to the presence of a prehistoric site.
_Feature_, or _Archaeological Feature_: Many things of archaeological
interest are portable, such as fragments of bone, pottery and stone
tools. However, archaeological sites frequently contain man-made things
that are not portable, but are part of the earth itself. Examples of
these features are hearths, foundations of buildings, storage pits,
grave pits and canals.
_Hipped Roof Bungalow_: These are square to rectangular dwellings with
hipped gable roofs, one or two front doors and four to five rooms
arranged in a modular design.
_Historic Sites_: Archaeological sites dating to the historic era, or
after about the early seventeenth century in the project area. The
distinguishing characteristic of this period is availability of written
documents. This era extends from the earliest period mentioned in
histories to the present.
_Midden_: A word (adopted from the Danish language) meaning refuse heap.
In many instances, one of the most apparent aspects of an archaeological
site is “midden”, or a soil layer stained to a dark color by
decomposition of organic refuse, and containing food bones, fragments of
stone tools, charcoal, pieces of pottery or other discards.
Archaeologists can learn a great deal about people’s lifeways by
studying their middens.
_Potsherds_ (or _sherds_): Pieces of ceramic vessels. Since the making
of pottery did not begin in the project area until the first few
centuries A.D., the presence of potsherds is a useful index of time.
Also, the composition of the sherds and their decorative motifs are a
highly useful way of detecting different prehistoric cultural groups,
since manufacture and design of pottery varied with cultural groups.
_Prehistoric Sites_: Archaeological sites (see _Site_) that date to a
time prior to European contact (that is, before written history). In the
project area that would be prior to the early seventeenth century.
Prehistory is a relative concept, varying from one area to another,
depending on the first intrusion of Americans or Europeans.
_Profiles_: Detailed maps of the walls of test pits and test trenches
(see definitions). These are key records in understanding a site’s
layers (stratigraphy) and distribution and age of artifacts.
_Site_: A site, or archaeological site, is the location of past human
behavior. Sites vary tremendously in their size and content, ranging
from cities to a few flakes of stone indicating the manufacture of a
stone tool. As a relative concept, sites are defined in relation to
specific research problems and needs.
_Stratigraphy_: A number of normal processes caused the earth’s surface
to be built up over time in layer-cake fashion. Sometimes this is caused
by floods or wind-carried soil. In other cases it may result from people
piling up refuse of one kind or another. The layering effect here is
called stratigraphy, and is a major interpretive tool of the
archaeologist. Within a given stratigraphic sequence the most deeply
buried layers are usually the oldest, and things found within a given
level were usually from the same points in time. Stratigraphy is
therefore a means of telling time (in a relative sense) for the
archaeologist.
_Test Pits_: Rectilinear pits dug during excavation of a site (see
_Archaeological Testing_). The archaeologist works with square or
rectangular pits because they aid in keeping records of changes in soil
types and other variables with depth. Extensive records, drawings and
maps are kept of test pits. The function of the test pit is to provide a
sample of a site’s contents at a particular point.
_Test Trenches_: Serving much the same function as a test pit, the test
trench give a more continuous record of a site’s contents over a larger
distance than a pit. Trenches are useful for tracing stratigraphy (see
definition) over distance.