First Published in 1993.This book is a user-friendly introduction to the interface between archaeology and the natural sciences. It is intended as a secondary textbook for undergraduates in interdisciplinary courses in anthropology, archaeological science, museum studies, or materials science. This title will also be useful to graduate students taking a course outside their major field, and to archaeologists, curators, and scientists in a variety of settings who are engaged in interdisciplinary research. Each chapter includes references and suggested readings; a glossary of technical terms concludes the volume.
First Published in 1993.This book is a user-friendly introduction to the interface between archaeology and the natural sciences. It is intended as a secondary textbook for undergraduates in interdisciplinary courses in anthropology, archaeological science, museum studies, or materials science. This title will also be useful to graduate students taking a course outside their major field, and to archaeologists, curators, and scientists in a variety of settings who are engaged in interdisciplinary research. Each chapter includes references and suggested readings; a glossary of technical terms concludes the volume.
This book is designed for upper-division undergraduate and graduate level archaeology students taking courses in ancient technologies, archaeological craft production, material culture, the history of technology, archaeometry, and field methods. This text can also serve as a general introduction and a reference for archaeologists, material culture specialists in socio-cultural disciplines, and engineers/scientists interested in the backgrounds and histories of their disciplines. The study of ancient technologies, that is, the ways in which objects and materials were made and used can reveal insights into economic, social, political, and ritual realms of the past. This book summarizes the current state of ancient technology studies by emphasizing methodologies, some major technologies, and the questions and issues that drive archaeologists in their consideration of these technologies. It shows the ways that technology studies can be used by archaeologists working anywhere, on any type of society and it embraces an orientation toward the practical, not the philosophical. It compares the range of pre-industrial technologies, from stone tool production, fiber crafts, wood and bone working, fired clay crafts, metal production, and glass manufacture. It includes socially contextualized case studies, as well as general descriptions of technological processes. It discusses essential terminology (technology, material culture, chaine operatoire, etc.), primarily from the perspective of how these terms are used by archaeologists.
This volume provides a clear and up-to-date description of how the materials were exploited, modified and manufactured in prehistoric and historic periods.
This is the first systematic attempt to survey in detail the archaeological evidence for the crafts and craftsmanship of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in ancient Mesopotamia, covering the period ca. 8000-300 B.C.E. As creators of some of the earliest farming and urban communities known to us, these people were among the first pioneers of many crafts and skills that remain fundamental to modern ways of life. Many of the raw materials for crafts had to be imported from outside the river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, providing an unusually sensitive indicator of the commercial and cultural contacts of Mesopotamia. In this book, Dr. Moorey reviews briefly the textual evidence, and then goes on to examine in detail the material evidence for a wide range of crafts using stones, both common and ornamental, animal products--from hippopotamus ivory to ostrich egg-shells--ceramics, glazed materials and glass, metals, and building materials. With a comprehensive bibliography, this will be a key work of reference for archaeologists and those interested in the early history of crafts and technology, as well as for specialist historians of the ancient Near East.
Peoples of the distant past lived comfortably in cities that boasted well-conceived urban planning, monumental architecture, running water, artistic expression, knowledge of mathematics and medicine, and more. Without the benefits of modern technology, they enjoyed all the accoutrements of modern civilization. Technology of the Ancient Near East brings together in a single volume what is known about the technology behind these acheivements, based on the archaeological, textual, historic, and scientific data drawn from a wide range of sources, focusing on subjects such as warfare, construction, metallurgy, ceramics and glass, water management, and time keeping. These technologies are discussed within the cultural, historic, and socio-economic contexts within which they were invented and the book emphasises these as the foundation upon which modern technology is based. In so doing, this study elucidates the ingenuity of ancient minds, offering an invaluable introduction for students of ancient technology and science.
A unique study of the engineering and tools used to create Egyptian monuments • Presents a stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statues of Ramses II and the tunnels of the Serapeum • Reveals that highly refined tools and mega-machines were used in ancient Egypt From the pyramids in the north to the temples in the south, ancient artisans left their marks all over Egypt, unique marks that reveal craftsmanship we would be hard pressed to duplicate today. Drawing together the results of more than 30 years of research and nine field study journeys to Egypt, Christopher Dunn presents a stunning stone-by-stone analysis of key Egyptian monuments, including the statue of Ramses II at Luxor and the fallen crowns that lay at its feet. His modern-day engineering expertise provides a unique view into the sophisticated technology used to create these famous monuments in prehistoric times. Using modern digital photography, computer-aided design software, and metrology instruments, Dunn exposes the extreme precision of these monuments and the type of advanced manufacturing expertise necessary to produce them. His computer analysis of the statues of Ramses II reveals that the left and right sides of the faces are precise mirror images of each other, and his examination of the mysterious underground tunnels of the Serapeum illuminates the finest examples of precision engineering on the planet. Providing never-before-seen evidence in the form of more than 280 photographs, Dunn’s research shows that while absent from the archaeological record, highly refined tools, techniques, and even mega-machines must have been used in ancient Egypt.
This edited volume investigates knowledge networks based on materials and associated technologies in Prehistoric Europe and the Classical Mediterranean. It emphasises the significance of material objects to the construction, maintenance, and collapse of networks of various forms – which are central to explanations of cultural contact and change. Focusing on the materiality of objects and on the way in which materials are used adds a multidimensional quality to networks. The properties, functions, and styles of different materials are intrinsically linked to the way in which knowledge flows and technologies are transmitted. Transmission of technologies from one craft to another is one of the main drivers of innovation, whilst sharing knowledge is enabled and limited by the extent of associated social networks in place. Archaeological research has often been limited to studying objects made of one particular material in depth, be it lithic materials, ceramics, textiles, glass, metal, wood or others. The knowledge flow and transfer between crafts that deal with different materials have often been overlooked. This book takes a fresh approach to the reconstruction of knowledge networks by integrating two or more craft traditions in each of its chapters. The authors, well-known experts and early career researchers, provide concise case studies that cover a wide range of materials. The scope of the book extends from networks of craft traditions to implications for society in a wider sense: materials, objects, and the technologies used to make and distribute them are interwoven with social meaning. People make objects, but objects make people – the materiality of objects shapes our understanding of the world and our place within it. In this book, objects are treated as clues to social networks of different sorts that can be contrasted and compared, both spatially and diachronically.
The Virtual Mummy is a thoroughly readable introduction to the nondestructive techniques used by contemporary researchers to analyze the artifacts and culture of ancient Egypt. It tells the captivating story of the "virtual unwrapping" of an Egyptian mummy and the interdisciplinary project that allowed researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to investigate the person inside by way of an autopsy performed by computer. The mummy, acquired by the university's Spurlock Museum in 1989, was from the Fayum region of Egypt and is dated to about 100 a.d. Although other mummy projects have used destructive analytical techniques, the Spurlock mummy was never even unwrapped. Minute samples of loose material were taken for dating and for textile and wood analysis without affecting the integrity or display quality of the artifact. Faculty and staff members from area hospitals and University of Illinois departments including classics, anthropology, chemistry, textile sciences, and entomology were recruited by the Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials for the project. The interdisciplinary team implemented a research plan that relied on medical imaging techniques including X rays and CT scans. They also utilized for the first time in the history of mummy research a Cray II supercomputer -- at the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications -- to render three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull and body. Replete with illustrations, Sarah U. Wisseman's engaging chronicle of teamwork and research gives readers the chance to experience how ancient history melded with contemporary technology. The Virtual Mummy also includes a review of the development of mummification and a general history of mummy research.
