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Define Chronology In Archaeology

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Why chronology in Archaeology is important

Before exploring why establishing a chronology is so important, first we must understand why archaeology is a crucial tool for humanity. The importance of archaeology is twofold; it has a spiritual and cultural significance for mankind, while simultaneously giving us the tools to scientifically understand human behaviours and settlement patterns. Archaeologists work to reconstruct history, modelling cultural and behavioural changes over time. This understanding of human behaviour allows us to better predict how our modern societies will change, giving us the chance to better plan for the future. Archaeology lets us learn the lessons of countless civilisations before us and as such can help us figure …show more content…

While both methods help build a chronology for a particular site or for related sites, they fail to place it in a general timeframe. Fortunately a number of tools have been developed to accurately place sites on the global timeline.

Absolute dating techniques

Absolute dating relies on scientific techniques that have been developed through an understanding of the physical or chemical properties of matter to accurately track how long ago artefacts were created and when ancient civilisations lived. There are a number of absolute dating techniques that have been developed, though for the sake of conciseness this essay will focus on radiometric techniques and thermoluminescence.

Radiocarbon dating is regarded as being the backbone of chronometric dating (Mattingly 2009). The technique relies on the fact that isotopes of carbon are created in the upper atmosphere and subsequently make their way into plants that absorb and store this carbon. This carbon then makes it was up the food chain as herbivores consume the plants, and omnivores and carnivores consume the …show more content…

When cross referenced with other dating techniques, radiocarbon dating is an accurate, reliable way to date organic material. It is limited in that it is unable to be used to date inorganic material (Dee et al. 2014).

Fortunately there is a method known as thermoluminescence which can be used to date some inorganic material. In a crystalline structure, background radiation causes electrons to be released from the structure. These electrons accumulate in flawed parts of the structure over time (Schwarcz 2001). When the lattice is heated to 500°C, these electrons get released, and the crystal is effectively zeroed. Because background radiation is practically constant on the scale of millions of years, the accumulated electrons can be used to calculate when the material was last heated to 500°C (Saneda

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There are various scientific techniques when examining an ancient body. When Tollund man was first excavated in Denmark 1950, scientists were limited in the amount of analysis methods available. The first dating method used on Tollund man was pollen analysis, this scientific method would only bring a small time frame as to when he lived. Instead forensic scientists were prompted to use radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating is conducted by measuring the levels of radioactive isotope carbon-14 in Tollund man's body.

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There have been experimental pits dug around the tomb but the tomb itself has never been excavated. By looking at the Roman Catacombs, it is seen that the past influences modern day activities. Relative dating does not provide actual dates for objects, although it can be used to arrange geological events. Through looking at strata it is able to look at timeline events and arrange them chronologically.

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Since they don’t have the living people from the past here in the future. They have to piece together what they know about the past societies by their findings. They have to piece together what they find to know what they did on an everyday basis, what they ate and much more. When excavating a site

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Archaeologists dated these sites back to the Mesolithic Period by using Carbon

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The original use for obsidian, or volcanic glass, was for making chipped stone tools. Archaeologists soon found an incredible use for the tool that has helped us further our knowledge of the past. Obsidian hydration dating was first introduced to the archaeological community by the two geologists, Irving Friedman and Robert Smith, in 1960 (Hughes, 1993). The two ways this method can be used are relative dating and absolute dating. The relative dating method allows you to determine whether an artifact is older or younger than another, while the absolute dating method allows for a calendar date to be produced.

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When reading in chapter 9 about “Geology and Primate Origins”, I came to a decision to choose the relative dating techniques. It is dating techniques that establish the age of a fossil only in comparison to other materials found above and below it. Relative dating techniques use the principles of stratigraphy to tell us how old something is in relation to something else without applying an actual chronological age. An example of this technique is biostratigraphy (faunal correlation), biostratigraphy is a relative dating technique using the comparison of fossils from different stratigraphic sequences to estimate which layers are older and which are younger; employed in the Early Pleistocene deposits at Olduvai and other African sites. The prime

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It will explain that relative dating only provides an estimate of the age of a fossil by relating it to event that occurred in the same location (Stanford 230). Relative dating utilizes the principles of original horizontality--which states that sediments are laid horizontally, lateral continuity--explains that rocks extend for certain distances , superposition--states that the horizontal layers of sediment or strata, accumulate with time and that oldest layers can be found at the bottom and the newer layers are on the surface, and more (The Smithsonian Institution). The principles are used with methods such as stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, fluorine analysis, and more (O’Neil). The second dating technique is absolute dating or chronometric dating, this method is primarily conducted in a laboratory, and it is based on the decay of radioactive elements (The Smithsonian Institution). This techniques includes methods such as dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating, and more (O’Neil).

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Methods for measuring radiocarbon dates has developed significantly from the original solid-state Libby counter to the AMS (Wood 2015). Conventional radiocarbon dating methods count electrons emitted during beta decay, whereas an AMS detects the atomic weight and counts the number of radiocarbon atoms (Renfrew & Bahn 2012; Wood 2015; Strydonck 2016). Radiocarbon dating using an AMS became popular in the 1990s, however nuclear physicists first realised its potential in 1977 (Harris et al. 1987; Scott & Harkness 2000; Bayliss 2009; Kutschera 2013). Since its introduction the number of radiocarbon laboratories increased, thus reducing the cost of obtaining radiocarbon dates (Palincas 2017).

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Culture in the Ruins Within Egyptian and Near Eastern cultures, archaeologists discovered the similarities and differences between the two civilizations through their ancient artifacts and ruins. As with the Near Eastern artifacts, it inspired how Egyptian art and architecture were developed. The Egyptians and Near Easterners created momentous temples and sculptures to commemorate their rulers, but the structures and meanings behind them were different. Both these cultures contained aspects of high authority and high status within what and how temples were built and in what ways their rulers or high authorities were depicted. Through this, archeologists could distinguish how Egyptian and Near Eastern art and architecture led to such great empires

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Prehistoric lives can be found out about by reading records from around or after that time period. Using logic as well as background knowledge can shed light on prehistoric life and what they were like.

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“Celestial bodies- the sun, moon, planets and stars- have provided us a reference for measuring the passage of time throughout our existence.” This passage explains how the ancient people would use celestial bodies to keep track of time. “The Mayans of central America relied not only on the sun and the

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Anthropologists study human cultures all throughout time and history, Archeologists look for and record artifacts and sites where early humans used to be, Paleontologists study a wide variety of fossils. 2. Prehistory began at the dawn of human life while history began around 3000 BC when humans started using writing. 3. During the Paleolithic age, humans were still hunter-gatherers and humans were migrating all over the world, Paleolithic art was comprised primarily of paintings.

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In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger readers are introduced to a young man named Holden Caulfield, who introduces himself and begins to tell his story of how and why he left his school; Pencey Prep. In the story, Holden explains how he is being kicked out of school and doesn 't want his parents to know and so leaves school early. throughout the story, Holden explains what happens to him before he must go home and act like he is home from school for a break instead of being kicked out. When it comes to the topic of Author 's purpose of The will of the individual vs the will of the majority some will think the purpose is to show that Holden going against the will of society to rebel, however, I think the author’s purpose of The Catcher in the Rye was to show that the individual will manifest in his desire for isolation comes from his is fear and damage done by fear of pain, failure, rejection, and is unwilling or unable to go along with the majority. This all shown through Imagery, symbolism, and diction.

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Polycom Australia can Provide Collaboration Solutions for your Business On line collaboration is fast becoming the new way to conduct business and communicating with your colleagues. Using effective collaboration systems such as Polycom allows the workforce to connect, share and collaborate from anywhere. As demands for productivity grow being able to communicate through video collaboration allows the work force a lot more flexibility. They no longer need to be at a desk in the office or at home.

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With archaeology we can learn about the present and future by discovering about the past. We can learn about the present and future through past because knowing our past would make us understand why we are here today. Your past and history or where you come from is the reason why you are in the position you are in now. Archaeology helped us know about the tools in the past that we still use in the modern day, but we modified them to make them better. Just like the gun and bow n’ arrow, first there was a bow and arrow, then a crossbow and in the modern day a gun.

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