Post-1960s American Archaeology

1
Post-1960s American Archaeology

• Large-scale CRM projects
• Environmental Archaeology
• Experimental Archaeology

2
Large-scale CRM projects

• Legislation spawned a great deal of
  archaeological projects.
• National Historic Preservation Act 1966
• Reservoir Salvage Act 1974
• There were large projects pre-1960s, but not with
  the ideas of New Archaeology to aid research
  design.

3
Lower Verde Archaeological Project

• Lower Verde Archaeological Project (LVAP) was
  conducted as part of the Safety of Dams Program
  associated with the Central Arizona Project
• Archaeological investigations at 26 presumed
  small habitation, agricultural, and
  resource-procurement sites in the Horseshoe
  Reservoir and Bartlett Lake areas in the lower
  Verde River valley.
• Previous research inventoried cultural resources
  in areas to be inundated when proposed dams along
  the Verde River were built.
• A project conducted by Statistical Research, Inc.
  (SRI) would be the first large-scale excavation
  effort in the region.
• It allowed the researchers to study
  relationships among the cultures of the lower
  Verde valley, other regions of central Arizona,
  and the Phoenix Basin distinguishing Yavapai and
  Apache peoples in the archaeological record and
  investigating agricultural methods, productivity,
  and carrying capacity.

http//www.sricrm.com/projects/lvap.html
4
Lower Verde Arch Project Excavations at Scorpion
Village
http//www.sricrm.com/projects/lvap.html
5
Koster Archaeological site

• Between 1969 and 1978, archaeologists from
  Northwestern University excavated an
  extraordinary site on Theodore and Mary Koster's
  farm.
• Taught as a field school, work at Koster is
  responsible for training many North American
  Archaeologists.

http//www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre
/htmls/a_sites.html
6
Koster, Continued

• Artifacts from one of the deepest levels of the
  excavation (circa 8,500 years ago) document the
  beginnings of a more settled Archaic way of life.
  
• Many important discoveries were made here,
  including some of the oldest evidence of the use
  of ground stone for food preparation, the
  establishment of a cemetery for deceased members
  of the community, and the presence of
  domesticated dogs.

http//www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre
/htmls/a_sites.html
7
Aerial overview of Koster site excavation in
Greene County
http//www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre
/htmls/a_sites.html
8
Dolores Archaeological Project

• Research was conducted prior to the McPhee Dam
  and Reservoir project, which included the Dolores
  Archaeological Program (DAP), the largest single
  archaeological project in the history of the
  United States.
• Between 1978 and 1984 researchers mapped about
  1600 archaeological sites- including hunting
  camps, shrines, granaries, households and
  villages- along the Dolores River in the
  reservoir area, and excavated about 120 sites to
  salvage their information value.

http//www.co.blm.gov/ahc/museum.htm
9
Dolores River Valley
http//www.co.blm.gov/ahc/museum.htm
10
Tennessee Valley Authority

• TVA has been improving the quality of life in the
  Tennessee Valley through its threefold mission of
  providing affordable and reliable power,
  promoting sustainable economic development, and
  acting as a steward of the Valley's natural
  resources.
• Welcome to the TVA web site, where youll find
  information about the many ways in which TVA
  fulfills these responsibilities. We hope you find
  the site informative.

http//www.tva.gov/
11
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

• Normandy Lake Third Report of the Normandy
  Archaeological Project, edited by M.C.R.
  McCollough and C. H. Faulkner (1976). Sixth
  Report of the Normandy Archaeological Project,
  edited by M.C.R. McCollough and C. H. Faulkner
  (1978). Seventh Report of the Normandy
  Archaeological Project, edited by C. H. Faulkner
  and M.C.R. McCollough (1982). Eighth Report of
  the Normandy Archaeological Project, by C. H.
  Faulkner and M.C.R. McCollough (1982). A
  Survey of Traditional Architecture and Related
  Material Folk Culture Patterns in the Normandy
  Reservoir, by N. F. Riedl, D. B. Ball, and A.
  P. Cavender (1976).
• Bear Creek Watershed Archaeological
  Investigations in the Little Bear Creek
  Reservoir, by C. B. Oakley and E. M. Futato
  (1975). Archaeological Investigations in the
  Cedar Creek and Upper Bear Creek Reservoirs, by
  E. M. Futato. An Above-Pool Survey of Cultural
  Resources Within the Little Bear Creek Reservoir
  Area, Franklin County, Ala., by Charles H.
  McNutt and Guy G. Weaver (1985). Historical
  Archaeological Investigations in Cedar Creek
  Reservoir, Franklin County, Ala., by Beverly E.
  Bastian.
• Bellefonte Nuclear Plant The Bellefonte Site
  lJA300, by E. M. Futato (1977).
• Watts Bar Excavations at 40RH6, Watts Bar Area,
  by F. A. Calabrese (1976). Excavations of the
  Leuty and McDonald Site Mounds in the Watts Bar
  Nuclear Plant Area, by G. F. Schroedl (1978).
  Archaeological Research at 40RE107, 40 RE108,
  and 40RE124, by G. F. Schroedl (1990).

http//www.tva.gov/
12
TVA, cond

• Tellico Lake The Bacon Farm Site and a Buried
  Site Reconnaissance, by J. Chapman (1978). The
  Patrick Site (40MR40), by G. F. Schroedl (1978).
  Archaeological Investigations of the Tellico
  Blockhouse Site, a Federal Military and Trade
  Complex, by R. Polhemus. The Howard and
  Calloway Island Sites, by J. Chapman.
  Excavations at Tomotley, 1973-74, and the
  Tuskegee Area, by A. K. Guthe and E. M. Bistline
  (1981). The Bacon Bend and Iddins Sites, by J.
  Chapman (1981). The Icehouse Bottom Site
  (1977), by P. A. Cridlebaugh. Tomotley An 18th
  Century Cherokee Village, by W. W. Baden.
  Archaeological Investigations at the 18th
  Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo, by K.
  C. Russ and V. Chapman. Archaeological
  Contexts and Assemblages at Martin Farm, by G. F.
  Schroedl, R.P. Stephen Davis Jr., and C. C. Boyd
  Jr. The 1977 Archaeological Survey An Overall
  Assessment of the Archaeological Resources of
  Tellico Reservoir, edited by L. R. Kimball.
  Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee,
  by G. F. Schroedl. The Toqua Site A Late
  Mississippian Dallas Phase Town, by Richard
  Polhemus (1987). Two-volume set. Aboriginal
  Settlement Patterns in the Little Tennessee River
  Valley, by RP Stephen Davis Jr. (1990).
• Yellow Creek Nuclear Plant Yellow Creek
  Archaeological Project - Volume 1, by R. M.
  Thorne and B. J. Broyles (1981). Yellow Creek
  Archaeological Project - Volume 2, by R. M.
  Thorne, B. J. Broyles, and J. K. Johnson (1981).
• Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant The Phipps Bend
  Archaeological Project, by R. H. Lafferty III
  (1981).
• Hartsville Nuclear Plant. The Duncan Tract
  Site, by C. H. McNutt and G. G. Weaver. Three
  Archaeological Sites Near Hartsville, by C. H.
  McNutt L. C. Lumb.
• Murphy Hill The Murphy Hill Site, by G. G.
  Cole.

13
Environmental Archaeology

• Environmental archaeology is the study of past
  human interactions with the natural world-a world
  that encompasses plants, animals, and landscape.
• Environmental archaeology researchers attempt to
  reconstruct not only the ancient environments
  associated with archaeological sites, but also
  the use of those environments by people, the
  impact people had on the world around them, and
  the way ancient peoples perceived their
  surroundings and the plants and animals on which
  they relied.
• Environmental archaeology is traditionally
  divided into three subfields, including
  zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains),
  archaeobotany (the study of plant remains) and
  geoarchaeology (the study of the abiotic
  landscape).

http//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/envarch/whatisenvarch.htm
14
Subsistence

• Zooarchaeology
• Paleoethnobotany
• Geoarchaeology

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Zooarchaeology
Clam-Incremental Growth Structures
Fish Skeleton
Pineland archeaological site, Charlotte Harbor,
FL
http//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/envarch/images_EAI.htm
16
Paleoethnobotany
http//web.arizona.edu/scarp/analyses/paleobot/
17
Geoarchaeology
Rodent Burrow
Microscopic sand grains
Soil Profile, Fl
http//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/envarch/images_EAK.htm
18
Experimental Archaeology

• Experimental archaeology can be divided into
  several categories
• Replication of recovered artifacts or known
  activities
• Testing methodologies/hypotheses.
• Contextual studies/change in sites over time.
• Ethnoarchaeology/studying modern culture to
  investigate arch phenomena.

http//www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/archaeolog
y/experimental_archaeology.html
19
Replication of Artifacts

• Stone Tools
• Bone Tools
• Pottery, metals, etc.

20
Stone Tools
A ground stone axe was replicated and then used
for chopping down trees
Francois Bordes
http//www.hf.uio.no/iakh/forskning/sarc/iakh/lith
ic/EXPARCH/chop.htmlanchor304394
21
Stone Age Institute

• http//www.stoneageinstitute.org/c_research.shtml
  ExperActual

22
Butchering Studies

• Using reconstructed stone tools.
• Observing durability of tools, cut marks, time,
  choices.

http//www.pastperfect.info/archaeology/experiment
al.html
23
Other reconstructive projects

• http//www.archaeology.org/interactive/tiwanaku/pr
  oject/experiment.html
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/lj/archaeologylj/expe
  rimental_01.shtml

24
Ethnoarchaeology

• Agta Foragers

http//www.picturesofrecord.com/Agta20Foragers016
.htm