Thinking like an archaeologist is one of the most challenging exercises a novice or inexperienced person can do, including beginner archaeologists. For one of the SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology assignments students were tasked with doing just that. By viewing the familiar as the unfamiliar they gained important insights into the challenges archaeologists face, and several of them did exceptionally well in the exercise. Here is a student's piece that was eligible for and agreed to be published.
By: Travis Barrett
It has been approximately one thousand years since the small cities have been evacuated and the citizens relocated to those that already had a population of one million or more in an attempt to force socialization and eventual procreation. The attempt to restabilize the population after the war against the alien species known as Hetero erectus led instead to the negative consequences of urbanization and, in turn, the wealthiest of all civilizations was forced to flee to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. My ancestors were a part of this group, and I joined my university to go back to Earth and examine what life was like for those in the smaller cities before the evacuations. We arrived in what was once known as Jefferson City, Missouri at what was possibly a house based on the multiple rooms enclosed by walls, pieces of clear material that allowed in natural light, and evidence of previous human life such as a clear liquid that is contained in transparent cylinders and cans that showed images of what those who were once known as ‘farmers’ grew on Earth. There were several different types of material making up the outside, with the wood being in the worst shape with large holes riddling it and the pillars that held the overhang of the roof creaking dangerously. The stone seemed weathered at most, though it was difficult to see through the plants that grew all around them, particularly the moss and grass.
When we made our way inside, our professor flicked up at a small protrusion on the wall and the room we stood in was flooded with a yellow light, ensuring that the anthropologist who specialized in old technologies, such as electricity, was able to find and properly set up the electricity that ran through this site. The inside of the site was well preserved compared to the outside, one of the few that had not been looted on this street, so after entering and checking to ensure that the two staircases were secure, she had me go to a room that was up and to the left. Upon entering, there was a very large, rectangular, horizontal item with a thick fabric laying precariously on top of it. When I pressed down on it, it molded to my hand, only to push back up once I released pressure. There was a small, miniature version of this that laid on top of and on the very edge of this item that did the same. To the right of it sat a squared table on four thin legs, and on the wall beside that was a box that was the same length but double the width, and about half a foot lower with two glass pieces facing outwards towards the largest rectangular object with thin, long boxes inside that contained circular discs within them. To the left of the original item, I saw there was squared yet tall box where, if I pulled on a piece that poked out, I could pull out three more hollow boxes. On the wall by this held a wooden table with multiple protrusions similar to the one downstairs which had two layers, each containing white and black alternating pieces, and had an even smaller table underneath it. Across from those are two doors that, when opened, shows a tiny room where pieces of cloth are held up by plastic or metal. Below these cloths are two sets of two items, both of which look to be the size of my feet, and at the top above the rest sit empty boxes. Finally, on the wall about a foot by this, there is an opening that leads to a small hallway that leads to a curtained opening and a table with several black boxes on top of it. I shall insert a map that I drew below (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1: Map of the Site |
Upon looking around the room, there were a few items that I have not seen in previously excavated houses that we have seen in Jefferson City. The first of which was what I believe to be a storage unit hanging on the wall to the left of the opening on the most Southeast corner of the map. It has no doors, so I was able to see the artifacts directly. Most of them appeared the same in terms of shape, which were three and a half inches long and two and a half inches wide. These containers were all made of a thin cardboard, and were in varying stages of wear with some wrapped in plastic and seemingly never opened while others had rips along the sides and stains on them. There were several that were in tin containers rather than cardboard, all about half an inch taller and wider than the others, and others still that were in boxes that were wrapped in objects like fabrics or even some that were translucent. There were 33 containers that were visible from the outside, though some of the larger ones held even more making the total number 38. Each one of them had a different image, ranging from realistic images of people to cartoonish drawings to bottles containing a fizzy brown liquid. My original belief as to why someone may display these containers was that they were once high in value, especially those which are on the top shelves, as they are of the most prominence while those one the bottom have some containers sitting in front of others. I then collect one made from each of the different materials, originally intending to note any weight differences, when I feel something inside of them shift. Upon carefully opening them, I find very thin pieces of plastic, all of their edges rounded. I counted 54 of these in each, and noted that there was a pattern where there were four sets of 13 of these pieces, each set having a different symbol and having a piece of plastic with a number between two through ten or the letter J, Q, K, or A. Each also had artwork on the middle for those with letters, and on all of these that I examined, I found artwork on the back that unified them. Perhaps these were actually a type of currency, but for different shops and the words on the front of the containers were the names of these shops.
Directly across from this shelving unit and possible currency, I find five objects where at the top they are slender, but at the bottom they easily double in size. Four of them have zippers on them, but the fifth is being held up by a piece of black plastic, a semi-circle around its slender part. When I get closer, I am able to see six strings that run from the top, with each having a nut with ovals coming off the sides of it, that then goes down to a piece of wood past the middle of the large bottom of it. Each of the strings seems to be thicker than the last. I try touching them, letting my finger run up and down them, tapping on them, although nothing happens. I originally assumed that this device is a string holder, or perhaps for making strings, however when I opened the case of a similar device there was a strange metallic twang sound, and I watched as one of the strings vibrated. Upon plucking on the original device, it did the same, and I now believe that it could have some use for making noise, perhaps as a way to call downstairs to anyone who may be living with the occupant as one of my classmates asked why I was making so much noise not long after.
There were also items that we were fairly certain of the use of based on previous sites. In this room, there were five sources that, if I pressed the correct button, would create a light source. Two of these were in corners and were circular shaped with more orange hues, though one was small and sat on a table while the other was much taller and sat on the floor. The other three were flat rectangles that gave off a more blue-tinted light, but they also had moving images. We are unsure as to what the differences between these two hues mean, but we presume that the flat ones are meant to be similar to picture frames that can turn on and off and can be seen in the dark, as we have yet to find any other use for them.
One final thing of note is the storage facility on the west most side of the room. In it hung different fabrics, not dissimilar to what the state issues for us, but these are of varying colors and the tops and bottoms are separated. Although I do see one article that is fully connected, so it must be the one that this person wore as a daily outfit. Although I am unsure as to why it has a hood with what I believe to be antlers on the top of its head. The rest is organized by the middle of it, as well as the length of the sides that stick out. If it has a long, broad middle and long sides, then it is at the left. If it has the same middle but short sides, then it is beside it. If its middle is open, then it goes to the very left. And finally, if it has no middle but has long sides, it is folded in half and is hung in the middle. I suppose they could be clothes, as the ones with no middle have a zipper similar to mine, but I am unsure how they would put on the top portion. It’s possible that they took pride in their upper bodies and walked around with only the bottom halves.
Working as an archaeologist can be very rewarding, as it can show how people in the past live, but it can also be extremely challenging, which I learned on this excavation. When looking at the grand challenges of archeology (Kintigh, 2014), we recognize that we have to come to the conclusions of how past societies were by ourselves. This includes studying the artifacts and trying to identify their meanings or their uses, and for my excavation we got lucky as the site was well preserved. However, my group and I were not able to recognize many artifacts found throughout the site as we do not have objects like these on Titan, nor do we have documentation of them. We had to either use knowledge of what we have back home, or what we had seen and what we had learned from previous sites and any past knowledge we had of Earth and its inhabitants, specifically those that lived in Jefferson City. The study of archeology can be a difficult one, but it is an important one as it helps us learn and preserve our past, as well as prepare for our future.
Citations
Kintigh, K. W., Altschul, J. H., Beaudry, M. C., Drennan, R. D., Kinzig, A. P., Kohler, T. A., Limp, W. F., Maschner, H. D. G., Michener, W. K., Pauketat, T. R., Peregrine, P., Sabloff, J. A., Wilkinson, T. J., Wright, H. T., & Zeder, M. A. (2014, January 21). Grand challenges for archaeology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3903258/
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