Early Humans - Assembling an Archeological Team

Interpreting the Past

Early Humans Unit: Assembling an Archeological Team

Assignments to hand in: Archeological Specialists Graphic Organizer*

Essential Questions, shared learning target & introduction:

Essential Question 7 - How do we know what we know about human history?

Shared Learning Target:
What will I be able to do?: You will describe what different specialists in the field of archeology do, what they might look like, and explain their function at various dig sites/examples.
What idea, topic, or subject is important for you to learn and understand so that I can do this?: You will learn what each archeological specialist does and how uncovering the ancient past involves many professionals and expertise.
What I will do to show that you know this?: You will complete the Archeological Specialist Graphic Organizer.

Introduction:
Archeology, which means "the study of the ancient," is the systematic study of objects of the past. Before archeology became an area of scientific study, scholars depended mostly on written texts such as the Bible to explain the existence of ancient ruins. The "Scientific Revolution" began in the sixteenth century and inspired people to look to scientific texts instead of religious texts to explain the world. In the 1800's, scientist from France, England, and Denmark began to carefully examine stones, soil layers, and bones they found in caves and in the earth. These scientists can be considered some of the world's first archeologists. However, most of the people who conducted the earliest archeological excavations, or digs, were poorly trained and primarily motivated by their desire to find treasure. Giovanni Belzoni, for example, was a former circus strongman whom the British government sent to Egypt in 1816 to explore the Valley of the Kings. Belzoni discovered the incredible 330-foot long Egyptian tomb of Seti by accidentally sitting on and crushing several skeletons. Rather than recognize the importance of his discovery, Belzoni's reaction was to complain about the dust surrounding him and the inconvenience of treating artifacts respectfully.

Twentieth-century archeologists work very differently. They use aerial photography to pinpoint likely sites of ancient remains and conduct careful digs to uncover artifacts, ruins, and other archeological evidence. They then systematically date and analyze their finding. Modern archeologists do not work alone, but depend upon the contributions of other specialists to analyze archeological evidence. For example, botanist study fossilized plant. Geologists help explain what the earth may have looked like in ancient times. Chemists determine the age of artifacts by using radioactive-dating methods. No one specialist can master all the information gathered at a site. Instead, several specialists work together to construct a more complete understanding of the ancient past.

Step 1: Archeologist's Team - Read the description of each specialist that might work on an archeological site [Description of Specialists Handout]. Then describe their expertise in the Archeological Specialists Graphic Orgranizer and draw a picture of what that specialists might look like in person.

Step 2: Assembling an Archeological Team - Read the handout: Assembling a Team of Archeological Specialists and answer the Critical Thinking questions after each site description in the Archeological Specialists Graphic Organizer. Look at the pictures below and listen to each narration of the following archeological sites: (You can use any music player to listen to the mp3 Audio Tracks.)

Archeological Site: Laetoli

Mary Leakey at Laetoli in East Africa