Monday, October 10, 2016

Learn More About Southeast Alaska Archaeology

By James McDonald


Basically, archaeology involves studying the ancient as well as the recent human past by looking at material remains. Archaeologist usually analyzes the physical remains as they seek to pursue a comprehensive and a broad understanding of the human culture. With Southeast Alaska archaeology, you can get a unique perspective on the human culture and history which has significantly contributed to the understanding of the ancient and the recent past.

In reality, archaeologists assist us in knowing where and when people stayed as well as why and how they lived. They scrutinize the changes and the reasons these changes may have happened to the human culture and look for patterns or explanations for all items beginning with when and how a given people ended up inhabiting a given area. They also seek to understand the origin of complex societies and of agriculture.

Unlike history that primarily rely on written records and documents to analyze significant lives and events, archaeology goes far back to a time before the written languages came to be, and examines everyday lives of humans by looking at what they made or even left behind. At the same time, this is the only field whose study looks at all times periods as well as geographical regions where people lived.

As a matter of fact, it has helped people to understand other big topics such as the ancient Egyptian religion, the origin of agriculture, the live of Africans enslaved in North America, as well as the early Mediterranean trade routes. At the same time, archaeologists can today inform about the lives of communities, families and individuals which might otherwise remain invisible. In fact, without what archaeologists have unearthed and discovered, what is written in the history books would be very different. They also help people understand the interaction of humans with other objects and the architecture outside what is written in history.

Again, archaeologists look at artifacts to come up with a pattern of how the human culture was like. They look at artifacts so as they can get an idea how people who created such artifacts or used them lived. For instance, they analyze how the southeast people who made pottery transformed with time by looking at their skills, designs and decorations, technology used, and the ways in which they used the pottery.

Any place that archaeologists unearth or discover physical remains of activities of humans is referred to as an archaeological site. Usually, there are various types of archaeological sites. Again, archaeological sites may be as tiny as chipped stone-tools, which a hunter who might have wanted to sharpen a spearhead left behind or even this could be a large or complex site.

Even when the archaeological sites are small, they may still contain more wealth of important information. Archaeologists look at objects made and used so as to collect information on people who made and used them.

The non-portable artifacts which are known as features form an important source of information for the archaeologists. Such features may include the likes of soil stains which may indicate where garbage dumps, storage pits, fences or structures once existed. Eco-facts such as animal and plant remains can also help in understanding diet and the subsistence patterns of ancient people.




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