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: Maryah Hoback-Blair
The year is 2154, over a century after numerous attacks on the world by geomagnetic forces due to the depletion of the ozone layer. It is believed that during the attacks many humanoids took shelter in underground bunkers and vaults and only traveled outside when absolutely necessary. There are still remanences of those that came before us but many vanished during the catastrophes. Today we are looking at sites in what we believed was once rural, agriculture parts of past-time Missouri. Archaeologists, like myself, are now looking at what is left of the world before by examing a site, creating detailed reports of the site and artifacts and recreating the potential use of the site.
This site we are looking at is a rectangular room that measures roughly eight and a half by six feet. Upon entering the room from a door on the west wall I noticed a variety of objects and artifacts. Straight ahead on the east wall is a wooden shelving unit that stands three feet high, two and a half feet in length, and two feet in width, with two drawers on the left and one door. On top of this is a brown and grey marble slab that has an inward curve that is roughly one foot across and five and a half inches deep. In the center of the curve is a dark circle with 19 small holes in it. At the back of the marble slab is a metal item that protrudes toward me and into the inward curve on the right and left of this piece is two spherical items that are easily manipulated when turned. To the right side of the inward curve is where artifact 1 was found. Attached to the wall above this item is a reflected surface edged with wood pieces. This item is two and a half feet in height and two feet in width with the wood pieces being two and a half inches thick. On the south wall there was four words attached to it that read “flush”, “wash”, “brush”, and “floss”. To the left of the wooden shelving unit is a white, oddly shaped item standing two and a half feet in height. This item has a rectangular box item attached to an egg-shaped bowl. The egg-shaped bowl narrowed as it got closer to the ground and then widened back out and is attached to the ground. On the north wall there is five feet by two and a half feet giant concave rectangular item that has a depth of one and a half feet. This item is white and has a hole in the bottom similar to that of the inward curved marble slab and had the same metal structure attached to the top. There was also a ledge on the far side the protruded roughly four inches and on this is where artifact 2 was found. Finally, there was white shelving unit with three drawers and one door on the west wall. This was two and a half feet in height and in length and one foot in width. The surface was smooth and where artifact 3 was found.
Artifact 1 is a long, skinny item measuring roughly seven and a half inches in length and a quarter of an inch in diameter. The item weighs less than an ounce and has a slick end, rubber like scales near the center, and a skinnier end. The rubber like area of the object fits well into the hand making it easy to grasp. The object has pink on one side and white and pink curved stripes on the other. Near the skinnier end of the object fabric, rough, bristle-like structures that are white and blue protrude outward. On these is a sticky and tacky white residue that will be sent to the lab for further testing. When holding the object in my right hand I noticed the bristles face towards me making it seems as though the object was used on oneself maybe for cleaning parts of an individual’s body or combing through hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, or other parts of the body. There was a second item of the same type laid next to artifact 1, making it seem as though each had a separate use. Alternatively, if these were for two individuals, then there was one for each.
Artifact 2 is a cylindrical item that is roughly seven and a half inches in length and two inches in circumference. The object is a dark pink color with white writing and what looks like an image of a white cloud-like substance. The writing readings “Equate: Shave Cream” and the word “raspberry” is written under the cloud-like image. On the opposing side a blurb reads “provides a rich lather that helps protect against nicks, and cuts, while providing a close and comfortable shave. Leaves your skin feeling silky and smooth.” The object also weighs around seven ounces and is made of what is believed to be a combination of metal and plastic with a smooth surface. When moving the object there is the sound of liquid on the inside. Near the top of the object there is a plastic cap and when removed a plastic angular surface is revealed. When that is pressed a foamy, cloud-like, white substance comes out. When rubbed together this substance disappears and leaves a soft feeling on the hands. The substance also has a sweet scent with a hint of a chemically smell.
Artifact 3 was found on top of the enclosed shelving unit in a stack of four. They were dark blue, grey, brown, and dark red in color and all rectangular in shape. When folded the object was roughly a foot and a half by one foot and when laid out was roughly two and a half feet by four feet. Each of the four objects weighs about a pound and a half and seems to be made out of a fabric material that is soft but also has a rough feeling in some areas. About four inches away from the end of the object is a stitched area that does not look or feel like the rest of the object. This area is about two inches and has three lighter colored stripes and two darker stripes made of different stitching patterns. The item has use-wear suggested by fraying and loose strings of fabric near the ends and throughout the item. I believe this item may have been used for cleaning or ritual purpose based on its texture and proximity to the larger incaved rectangular item.
It is my educated conclusion that this site was used for ritual or religious purposes. I have come to this conclusion based off the set up of the site, the artifacts found, and the words that were on the artifacts and in the room. I believe the four words on the south wall served as a reminder to a routine that must be practiced. I also believe that artifact 1 served as a cleaning tool to prepare the individual for the ritual. Artifact 2 had words like “silky” “smooth” and “protect,” suggesting it may be used to heal or help the individual during the religious practice. Lastly artifact 3 looks to have been used numerous times making me believe it was used as a ritual mat or a cleaning item. Its size suggest it may have been wrapped around an individual or used form kneeling purposes since it was close the large concave bowl item. The artifacts in the room and its set up has led me to this assumption.
There were a variety of challenges faced while interpreting the site, artifacts, and their meanings. The biggest challenges were being descriptive and interpreting the use of the site and artifacts without being biased due to my own cultural norms. In 2014 the National Institute of Medicine shared 25 questions and challenges archaeologists often face including culture ideas, how humans may react to change in cultures or climates, migration patterns, social culture norms, and society collapses (Kintigh et al., 2014). All of these play a major role in how archaeologists must interpret their findings to fit into different groups and answer different questions that have been asked for decades. While exploring this site I was able to understand these challenges more and why it is important for cultures and people to work together to create accurate interpretations of the past. Times archeologists have misinterpreted findings include the Trojan Horse, fake crystal skulls, the abonnement of civilizations such as Mesa Verde, how civilizations behaved and lived, and the existence of some species (Vincent, A., 2025). All of these were either misinterpretations due to lack of evidence or prejudice. “The discipline has become increasingly rigorous through learning from these mistakes, developing improved dating techniques, incorporating diverse perspectives, and maintaining skepticism toward convenient discoveries,” through implementing these standards and ideas archaeologists now and in the future can provide the most accurate and useful information (Vincent, A., 2025).
References:
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. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3903258/
Vincent, A. (2025, June 2). 14 times archaeologists got it completely wrong. Go2Tutors.
https://go2tutors.com/14-times-archaeologists-got-it-completely-wrong/
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