1. A2 Archaeology AQA Level 3

2. Material Culture, Technology and Economics

3. What is material culture?

4. Material Culture ► Made “things” associated with people!  Artefacts.  Structures. ► Often used to identify a group of people or time period.  Is this a good thing to do?

5. Material Culture & Technology ► Includes:  Art  Materials  Production  Products  Specialisation  Extraction

6. Material Culture ► Biographical Approach:  Where raw materials obtained?  How worked or made?  How finished products used? ► Reading Approach:  Symbolic meaning embedded in things. ► Beliefs & values of a culture are expressed in the material culture it produces.  Look for repeated patterns.  Look at how ended up in archaeological record.

8. Material Culture & Technology ► Includes all artefacts made by humans.  Those that are functional  Those that are decorative ► Plus those that are both. ► The study involves the understanding of how artefacts were made – PRODUCTION ► The nature of the MATERIALS used. ► Where they derived – EXTRACTION. ► Techniques used to fashion them into PRODUCTS. ► Looks at how artefacts might have been used. ► Also looks are the manufacturers and their position in economy and society.  Were they SPECIALISTS?

10. How do you acquire things? (Material Culture!)

11. How do you acquire things? ► Made.  You made the thing; you own it. ► Gift.  No exchange necessary. ► Gift exchange.  Something exchanged in return. ► Purchased.  Money/things/labour exchanged in return. ► Found.  No body to exchange with. ► Thievery.  You took it from someone - no intension of exchange.

12. What type of exchange exists?

13. ► Gift exchange.  Between two people/cultures/states etc. ► Redistribution of resources.  Usually one person/group to many. ► Down the line.  One person to another to another etc.

14. How do things end up in the archaeological record?

15. ► Thrown away (rubbish). ► Lost (or forgotten). ► Deposited (purposefully). ► Look at table page 106.

16. What happens to things before they get to the archaeologist?

17. ► Taphonomy:  The law of burial.  The study of the effects of burial on things.  Erosion.  Rotting/decay.  Scavenging.  Movement.  Breakage/fragmentation.

18. A lady goes to the Post Office to pick up her pension – what does she leave with?

19. MoneyStampsEnvelopes Top up for her phone Knowledge Gossipetc!

20. Economics ► Includes:  Trade  Transport & communications  Subsistence  Intensification  Storage  Exploitation of plants & animals.

22. Economics ► The exploitation of plants & animals looks at the food available to humans and how they obtained different resources:  Hunting  Gathering  Fishing  Farming

23. The Buffalo Hunt painted by Frederick Remington in 1890, after he had spent some time in Montana and the Big Horn Mountains.

24. Economics ► Looks at the SUBSISTENCE of a society.  Individual or community based or state-controlled. ► STORAGE  Physical remains  Reasons for individual or centre storage. ► Planning & survival. ► Social structure. ► INTENSIFICATION  Control of land.  Population pressure  Changes in social control.

25. Economics ► TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS ► Land or water. ► Animal or vehicle. ► Natural routes or man-made.  Looks at relationship between groups. ► TRADE  Down-the-line.  Directional trade.  Markets & Money  High-status control or individual enterprise. ► Social organisation.

26. Case Study Roman Storage Vessels (amphorae)

27. ► Wine, olive oil and other foodstuffs produced in Mediterranean countries were stored and transported in amphorae.  After the removal of their contents, some amphorae were re-used as cremation urns, others as urinals.  Because of earlier trade links, wine amphorae (Dressel 1) were occasionally imported into Britain before the Roman conquest of AD43.

28. Production place: Mediterranean; Italy Production date: 43-410 Material: ceramic; earthenware Measurements: H 285 mm; DM (rim) 112 mm Summary: Cylindrical neck of Italian amphora of type: Koan, fabric KOAN-2385 with 2 double rod handles. One handle missing. Red fabric. Pitch lining.

29. Roman Storage Vessels (amphorae) ► Many amphorae stood nearly 1m tall and weighed over 50kg when full.  The largest, globular, amphorae contained over 77 litres (17 gallons) of olive oil and weighed around 100kg.  Most amphorae had a pair of handles and a pointed base to act as a shock absorber and prevent the contents leaking. ► The spike could also be pushed into the ground or placed in a rack.

30. Production date: 43-410 Material: ceramic Measurements: H c. 700 mm; DM c. 600 mm Summary: Amphora, globular body, Dressel 11, buff fabric, small point at base; handle, half of neck and rim missing. Base lined inside with modern concrete. Point separate.

31. Roman Storage Vessels (amphorae) ► Olive oil amphorae (Dressel 20) were often stamped with the name of the owner of the estate that produced the oil.  Many amphorae were marked in ink with details of their contents and destination, but these marks seldom survive.

32. Production place: Spain Production date: 43-410 Material: ceramic; earthenware Summary: Spanish amphora of Type: Dressel 20. Stamp: L.I.T, neck of amphora.

33. Roman Storage Vessels (amphorae) ► Londinium depended heavily on imports of fish sauce, olive oil and wine, and so the Museum of London's amphora collection is large.  Most amphorae found in London date between AD70 and 200.

34. Production place: Baetica area, Southern Spain Production date: 1-200 Material: ceramic; earthenware Measurements: H 1010 mm; DM (body) 280 mm Summary: Two-handled amphora (Camulodunum type 186A, C; Peacock & Williams classes 17- 18) in a cream fabric, complete but heavily restored. The vessel would have contained fish sauce.

35. Shipwrecks

36. Vasa ► ► The new hope for the Swedish navy. ► ► Sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. ► ► Salvaged and raised in 1961. ► ► Offers unique opportunity to study life in 17 th Century Scandinavia.

37. The ship was beautifully carved – some parts of this have been reconstructed.

38. The reconstruction of the hull

39. Archaeologists still don’t know where some of the key features go on the ship.

40. A perfect scale model has been created and painted of the original ship.

41. Ulu Burun, Turkey 1400BC

44. Kyrenia, Cyprus 300BC

47. Yassi Ada, Turkey AD625

50. Serce Limani, Turkey AD1024

53. Fatimid Islamic glass coin weights

54. Serce Limani, Turkey AD1024