This article is going to be discussing all the different types of data that constitute to archaeological evidence. These include written sources and art, the various artifacts such as pottery and metal objects that are found on excavation sites, environmental evidence like soil samples and vegetation, the burial of people, how they were buried and what they were buried with, and all of the various dating techniques that allow archaeologists to date at what time in history the artifacts are from.
One of the most popular and useful scientific dating techniques is radiocarbon dating, although it does have its limitations in accuracy, but this is mostly due to poor samples and bad interpretation, but also because the amounts of carbon in the atmosphere have varied over time, but to avoid this radiocarbon dates are calibrated, although there still is margin for error. Radiocarbon dating works by comparing the weight of C-14, carbon 14 which is an unstable isotope, to amounts of carbon isotopes to work out how much C-14 had decayed, this indicates how long it has been since the decaying began giving archaeologists a time frame. Radiocarbon dating is usually used to date organic materials such as plant remains, charcoal, wood and bones. Radiocarbon dating does not work on cremated bone but does give a reliable date to charred bone.
Potassium-argon dating is mainly used to date rocks hundreds and thousands of years old. Like radiocarbon dating it is based on the principle of radioactive decay.The results of potassium-argon dating are accompanied by an error estimate of how many years the results could be an error by, for example if a rock is dated to be 10000 years old there could be a 3000-year margin for error.
Uranium-Series dating is based on the radioactive decay of isotopes of uranium. It is particular useful for the period of 500,000-50,000 years ago which is outside the time range of radiocarbon dating, so uranium-series dating is the first choice for dating a site which was occupied by early humans. This method is used to date rocks that are rich in calcium carbonate; teeth can also be dated using this dating technique.
Dating techniques are extremely important in archaeology; they put a date on artifacts and settlements and provide information on what period in time these artifacts were made and when the settlements were lived in. It gives archaeologists time periods for certain trends such as Iron and Bronze, for example iron products were made in the Iron Age, which started in the 12th century BC, although it started much later in Europe in the 8th century BC.
Artefacts are one of the main sources of information for archaeology. Artifacts are anything that was man made or modified by man, for example pottery, jewelry, stone items such as flint, metal items and clothing. Artefacts can provide lots of information and answers, however they can also raise just as many new questions although they are crucially important to reconstruct past human activity. Artefacts can tell us how people lived their lives, for example, remains of pottery can provide information regarding the owners diet as food residue could be left behind on the pottery. Pottery would have had many uses, from cooking and storing various items in, it is also very helpful when trying to date a site. Pottery is a fairly common find in many archaeological excavation sites around Europe, mainly because it survives well in almost any environment. It also helps to indicate society, economy and exchange within the culture, for example pottery that is known to not be made in that particular area where it was found, indicates that it was traded and brought to the area.Well-made pottery with a lot of decoration shows craftsmanship and that someone was important enough within the society to have the pottery made for them. Pottery was well used and would have broken easily so the average home would have got through many pots.
Many artifacts would have been made out of various metals. Things like swords, arrowheads, axe heads, and jewelry. They could be made out of metals such as copper, iron, bronze, silver and gold. However what materials where used would depend on the period of time and the resources that were available.
Men and women have always from early man enjoyed decorating themselves with jewelry whether it is feathers, animal bones, stone or made from metals. Jewelry can tell us a lot about the culture it came from and about the people within that culture. The kind of information that jewelry gives us is a sign of wealth, trade and exchange in the area, and what kind of materials and resources were used. It shows what the people in that civilization could afford and what they could have traded with others nearby, it also shows how far certain artifacts could have traveled to reach the place it was found. It can tell us what kind of materials and resources could have been found near by and how those resources were put to use and the skill and craftsmanship within the culture. Decorated jewelry shows great craftsmanship and how talented the people of that time would have been to make such nice jewelry with the tools and methods of production that were available.
