Anthro Unit 2 - ANTH 1000 Joe Phipps PDF

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ANTH 1000 Joe Phipps...

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Anthropology Unit 2 Doing Anthropology Methods and Ethics

How Do We Study the Past?  Artifacts-material stuff left behind (stone, ceramic)  Features-Large artifact that you can’t remove from the site practically (too delicate, too big, solid part of landscape) Study in the context that we find them  Fossils-Start out as bone and overtime chemical change happens  Sites: preserved locations of human activity (small fishing camp all the way up to major cities) How much is it exposed to erosion, do still people interact with the site Creation of Sites:  Pompeii Effect-Buried in 79 A.D. Volcanic eruption  Gradual deposition of sediments – can be brought by wind or water open to erosion or damage Stratified Sites:  Allow for relative dating of layers and artifacts (bottom is older top is more recent) gives us an idea of how we could place artifacts in order  Taphonomy: study of site destruction/alteration  Bioturbation: Most common form. When plants and animals mess with it humans included. Finding Sites:  Systematic/Pedestrian Survey (Walking around on foot and looking at the ground)  Passive Methods (Don’t actively interact with ground) -Geomagnets (remote sensing) (Fancy word for metal detector)  Active methods: -Ground penetrating radar (GPR) - Shovel test pits (Sample from the ground go down as far as you can with it) Record as you take layers of soil out

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Excavation: controlled form of destruction in a way where you can never put it back again Two Main Goals: Recover significant sample of evidence Precisely record and vertical and horizontal position of artifacts Context: keep a written record of how the site was originally put together Leave part of the site intact -Leave part of its natural state -Never assume that we are the only archeologists interested in it or that study it Analyzing the Evidence:

Conservation of artifacts and fossils Reconstruction (Often can recreate pieces that are missing) Examination o Formal Analysis (Written description of what the artifact actually is) Describe shape color, size, weight. downside is that it is based off of perception and what the person is looking at o Metric Analysis (When you take specific measurements of the objects) Measure its height, weight, width, volume, cranial capacity, length and width of cheekbones. More accurate than formal but we use both Creating Typologies:  Typology: set of types used for classification  Allow artifacts/fossils to be relatively dated  Metric typologies less subjective than formal ones   

Dating Techniques:  Relative dating o Stratigraphy (for one specific site) o Typologies (comparatively study all sites)  Absolute Dating (chronometric) o Carbon 14 (Half-life =5,730 years) o Organic Materials o Accurate up to 50,000 years  Potassium-Argon (Half Life = 1.3 million years) o Volcanic rocks o Accurate between 500,000-3 billion years Ethnography:  First- hand, in depth study of a single society or community Participation observation:  The “doing” of ethnography Informants:  Key cultural consultants (members of the community, translators if there are language barriers, insiders often start working very closely with you, people you go to with questions) Liza Dalby and Geisha Culture  Geisha culture of Japan  Geisha are entertainers  Japan is patriarchal  Entire geisha industry dominated and run by women  Often sold into this position  Experts at conversations (breaking the ice) Insider v Outsider Naïve Realism:

Subconscious perception that our culture is the way all things are  Ethnocentrism: when we judge another culture based on our own Cultural Relativism:  When a cultural practice is considered in the context of the society being studied 

Emic= insider’s perspective (use them to train informants to think like the Etic) Etic= outsider’s perspective Cultural Patterns:  Cultural constrains (norms of behavior)  Direct (see obvious instruction) vs. Indirect (observing how adults interact, without doing anything explicit) Cultural Ideals  Ex: Racial/Gender Equality Ethical Obligations:   

The people we study The scientific community The human species and our ecosystem

Code of Ethics:  American Anthropological Association (AAA)  Guide for researchers to discuss and resolve ethical situations rather than prosecute offenses Research Protocol:  When beginning a research project in a host community, we are expected to: o Explain the goals of the project o Explain the methods that will be used o Get informed consent from those who choose to give information( if they say no you have to delete all information they gave you)...