Archaeology Month 2023

A is for Archaeology

Archaeology is the scientific study of the human past using material remains. Archaeology is often confused with paleontology, the study of past organisms using fossil remains. The two fields do overlap on some topics. For example, some scholars have argued that the megafauna extinction at the end of the Pleistocene epoch was the fault of human hunters. However, archaeologists never study dinosaurs.

Archaeology is one of the four sub-fields of anthropology, the systematic study of humans. The other sub-fields are physical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology. Most professional archaeologists actually have a degree in anthropology. While we may focus more on the archaeology aspect, learning about the other sub-fields of anthropology is still helpful. A better understanding of present day people can inform our understanding of the past.

R is for Research

Archaeological research has many facets. Research on past human societies begins with systematic excavation of archaeological sites. The artifacts and ecofacts recovered through excavation are taken to laboratories to analyze. Analysis may be as basic as taking measurements of ceramic sherds or as complicated as doing blood residue analysis on stone tools.

Once analysis is complete, the research continues through literature reviews. Context is important within individual sites, but also for understanding regional trends. A literature review helps us find similarities and differences between archaeological sites. Looking at regional trends can tell us things like how people reacted to environmental shifts or changing political structures.

Finally, archaeological research should always involve publishing the results of your analysis. Publication should ideally be peer-reviewed, so that other archaeologists can point out any potential problems with the analysis before it is widely shared. Future archaeologists can use those publications to decide where to excavate next.

C is for Context

Context is critical for understanding archaeological sites. The relationship artifacts have to each other and to their surroundings gives us information about what they were used for and when. 

For example, finding a lot of lithic flakes and partially shaped bifaces together might tell us that people were making stone tools at that site. Finding foreign goods, like European glass beads, at a Native American site tells us something about trade between the groups. 

Vertical context is important too. The law of superposition says that lower layers of rock and soil are older than the layers above them. By studying which artifacts were found in different layers, we can figure out how old they are in relation to one another.

Because we can learn so much from context, we must excavate archaeological sites carefully and keep detailed records. Without knowing an artifact's context, we won't be able to say anything specific about how it was used in the past. 

H is for History

History is the study of past events, primarily through written records. We can study written records to learn specific details about the past, such as names and dates. However, there are many things that we cannot learn from written records alone. Not everyone could write in the past, and those who could write did not describe every detail of their lives.

History and archaeology can provide complementary sets of information. Archaeological materials can provide insights on the things that were not written down. By combining information from both fields, we can get a fuller picture of how people lived during different times.

A is for Artifacts

Artifacts are objects that were made and used by people in the past. We can learn a lot about how people lived based on the materials they left behind. Stone tools and pottery are two of the most common types of artifacts that we find at very old sites because they are durable materials. Metal, glass, and brick are commonly found on more recent sites.

Besides telling us how people lived, artifacts can also be used to answer questions about when people lived on a site. Techniques and style choices for making different types of artifacts changed over time. Archaeologists study those differences to create chronologies (timelines) of when artifact types were used.

Non-portable remains of human activities are called features. Features can tell us how people used a space - for example, we can find postholes that show how a house was shaped even though the structure no longer stands. Middens (trash pits), fish weirs, and smudge pits are other examples of common archaeological features.

E is for Ecofacts

Ecofacts are remains from plants and animals that tell us something about how humans lived in the past. Organic materials often decompose, but they can be preserved under the right conditions. Burned seeds and wood become carbonized, which preserves their structure. Waterlogged and arid sites (very wet and very dry environments) can prevent decay.

There are specialized fields within archaeology for studying different types of ecofacts. Paleoethnobotanists study how people used plants in the past. Zooarchaeologists identify animal remains from archaeological sites. Palynologists investigate ancient pollen samples. Studying ecofacts can tell us about how plants and animals were domesticated, past environments, and more! 

O is for Office of State Archaeology

The Office of State Archaeology (OSA) is a state agency within North Carolina's Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Our state has had an archaeology program in various forms since 1938. The current Office of State Archaeology evolved from a section established in 1973.  We now have offices across the state in Raleigh, Asheville, Kure Beach, and Greenville.  

The OSA helps to identify and protect archaeological sites on land and beneath state waters. There are over 60,000 known sites representing more than 14,000 years of North Carolina's history.  We also play a part in the environmental review process. 

Environmental review protects important sites through application of state and federal archaeology laws and regulations . Not all archaeological sites are given the same consideration under the law. Only places that qualify for listing in the  National Register of Historic Places are considered. 

Appreciation of our state’s cultural heritage enhances the social, educational, cultural and economic future of North Carolina. The OSA exists to protect that heritage for all North Carolinians.

Interested in sharing your thoughts on protecting cultural resources? Take the survey for our 10-year historic preservation plan, available through November 2023!

L is for Laboratory

People usually think about excavation when they think about archaeology. However, archaeologists actually spend far more time in the laboratory! A general rule is that for every one day of excavation, you will need at least three days in the laboratory. That time is needed to analyze, document, conserve, and prepare excavated artifacts for curation. Some artifacts can take years to fully conserve. 

Archaeologists must always have a curation plan in place before we start to dig at a site.  Since excavation will destroy the site, the artifacts and information we collect is all that is left. Laboratory work ensures that we preserve information gained through excavation for future researchers, both paper records and artifacts.

If you are interested in learning more about artifact conservation, check out our conservation blog post!

O is for Oral History

People often think of archaeological sites as places that are thousands of years old. However, any place over the age of 50 years can qualify as "archaeological." That means there are many people alive today who can tell us information about life at an archaeological site!

Oral history makes a record of the past based on interviews with people who lived through those times.  Interviewees often tell stories passed down by their elders and provide genealogical information. They describe ongoing cultural traditions that we see evidence of in the archaeological record. Oral history interviews can provide important context for interpreting archaeological sites.

Collecting oral histories can also help us find new sites. In 2018, Office of State Archaeology staff interviewed people who attended historic American Indian schools.  Unlike the federal boarding schools established in the late nineteenth century, North

Carolina’s American Indian schools were created and supported by the communities they served. They remain a matter of local pride. Interviewees provided locations for several school, allowing us to record these unique sites.

Learn more about the American Indian Schools Project!

G is for Geophysics

Archaeologists use geophysical remote sensing to learn about sites without having to dig. Geophysical techniques allow us to measure subtle changes in the earth’s magnetic field and differences in the soil’s electrical properties. We can use those measurements to learn where people once lived, cooked, or left their trash.

One type of remote sensing that is transforming the practice of archaeology is Ground Penetrating Radar, or GPR. Archaeologists can push a GPR system across a site like a lawnmower. The system transmits tiny pulses of high frequency radio waves into the ground. It records, in nanoseconds, the time it takes for those signals to reflect off objects in the soil and return to the antenna. The longer it takes the signal to bounce back, the deeper the item or feature is. The GPR system records these reflections as vertical slices of the ground. 

Archaeologists collect GPR data in a grid pattern. We can then stitch these lines, or transects, together to create a 3-dimensional map of the site. The map can be sliced horizontally at different depths to visualize what is below the ground.

Archaeologists often use GPR to map cemeteries where some of the graves are not be well marked or visible from the surface. In other cases, GPR can help us figure out where buildings once stood or how deep a site is buried below the ground.

While this can be a powerful tool for finding "anomalies" (abnormal readings), we do not know what the anomalies are for sure unless we dig. We can use geophysical techniques to identify places to dig, or places to avoid digging if our goal is to preserve a site in place.