Spotlight on Students: Thinking Like An Archaeologist

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.

 

Map of the site (Source: Liz Stewart)

 

By: Elizabeth (Liz) Stewart

                                                         

            On the 17th of December in the year 2120 a mass exodus of the Earth’s living oxygen dependent life forms began. Due to centuries of planetary neglect and abuse caused by Earth’s most dominant mammal population the Homo sapiens (human) soil, air, and water toxicity elevated, causing global temperatures to escalate.  This created a combination of conditions inhabitable for even the planet’s most resilient life form Periplaneta americana, the cockroach, resulting in the planets mass evacuation and vacant occupancy. Scholars from my planet Namreh have been interested in the once plentiful planet for millions of years, but fear of the planet’s wide variety of living organisms, coupled with the absence of knowledge pertaining to Earth, and the lack of adequate technology to travel the vast distance between locations has kept exploration from becoming a reality until now. Recent discoveries have provided evidence that in the past 1,103 years free of human contact Earth has been in a constant stage of recovery. As an archaeologist I have been chosen to join a small team of Namretian scientists on a voyage to planet Earth. Our mission upon arrival is to analyze the structural remains and artifacts contained within abandoned during the planet's evacuation. We will be using said findings to gain knowledge of the human species. Ideally information collected from this survey will give the Namretians a better understanding of the human species and its time on earth.

 

            The location assigned to me by leadership resembles a cube the structure consisting of four walls, a ceiling, and a flat level wooden floor.  Overall, the structure is 10 feet wide, 11 feet in length, and has a height of 10 feet. Three walls contain cut outs of various sizes that have been replaced with a material different from which the wall was constructed. Smooth in texture the white walls are durable but not impenetrable as small cylindrical holes are easily viewed upon visual inspection. Wall number one facing north is how I made entry into the location; it features a large rectangular cut out in its center that starts at the base where the floor and wall meet. This cut out measures 3 feet wide by 8 feet high.  Attached to the right side of the cut out by two silver metal hinges is a white panel that swing with little effort into the area; smooth in texture the panel is hard but not solid or heavy.  Upon tapping the panel, it appears be hollow and is constructed from a substance different from that of the wall. Roughly 3 feet from the panels base on the left, there is a round brownish metal mechanism that protrudes 3 inches from either side of the panel. It turns either direction and contains a locking device activated either by a twist control or a key. The east wall (wall two) bears a purposely cut cavity 5 feet by 2 feet by 8 feet. Containing a bare horizontal white wooden shelf, five feet from the floor, there runs a round rod an inch in circumference beneath and parallel to the shelf.  The pole is supported by the north and south cavity walls, and metal and plastic triangles with hooks protruding out the top point, are dangling from the rod. The entire entrance to the cavity is enclosed by two suspended panels that slide along a metal track and are like that of the site’s entry portal in construction but lack the metal locking mechanism.

2 feet from the cavity found pushed against wall two is artifact one.  It is a wooden container with a reflective glass plank attached vertically to its most superior surface. The container measures 3 feet wide by 1 foot in length and 3 feet tall.  The reflective surface is 2 feet wide, 2 feet tall, and only about an inch thick. The container has four rolling drawers accessible only by small metal knobs protruding from the east facing side of the container. Within the drawer are small fabric garments of various colors, sizes, and shapes.

The southern wall (wall three) contains a square cut-out centered directly across from the entry portal. Transparent glass rectangles with metal boarders fill the cut-out space. Roughly 8 inches to the west of the cut-out artifact two was found. Occupying a large amount of space, artifact two is placed in the corner where walls three and four meet, and this artifact consists of multiple pieces. Constructed from wood that has been glossed with an unknown chemical the bottom portion of the object appears to act as a frame or support for the superiorly located objects. Its entire structure stands on four wooden legs resembling an “L” shape. The tallest portion of this artifact is located on wall 3 and stands 4 feet tall and about 5 feet wide. The shorter portion stands only 1.5 feet tall and about 5 feet wide.  It is attached to the inferior side of the tall portion and extends 6 and a half feet to the north.

Resting atop this wooden piece is a rectangle measuring 5 feet wide and 6.5 feet long with a height of 1.5 feet. Its construction is remarkable, although time and the environment have aged large sections of the outer layer fabric, which is a pale orange or cream color. I believe it was originally white due to the bright white exhibited on the surfaces protected from exposure to the elements. Soft to the touch it has a somewhat fluffy appearance capable of supporting items. It contours to items based on individual curves or corners present but does not absorb them. The central piece was found to be of great density, weighing an estimated 125 pounds due to the gravitational pull of Earth. Visual examination leads one to believe an internal fame is present, supporting the weight of items placed on the superior surface; however, when lifted the object becomes flimsy, incapable of independently standing on any it's sides, excluding the top and bottom (position in which it was found). For the final section of artifact two, its most superior portion consists of two rectangular objects with rounded corners that are 2 feet long and 1 foot wide.  It is lying parallel to the south wall.  A large piece of fabric 6 feet wide and 8 feet long is purposefully laid to cover the entire surface of the middle component. I believe all three to be constructed from a man-made lightweight cotton blend of some kind as they do not show remarkable changes in pigment but maintain an even red color. The rectangular pieces are filled with feathers from some type of bird and weigh roughly a pound each, while the large fabric piece’s weight is estimated to be 2 pounds.

Artifact three was in the center of the surveyed area.  It was rectangular in shape, with dimensions of 6 feet wide and 8 feet long.  It is approximately 4 pounds in weight. The inferior surface is a tan plastic fabric blend of some type, apparent from the shiny rubber like circular spots present. The superior surface is covered in 2 inch long, very thin, vertically standing black plastic fibers that resemble fur of some type.

Lastly, located in the corner where the north and west wall meet was a small wooden sculpture standing 2 feet tall.  It was made from a square 2-inch by 2-inch dowel rod with strategically placed diagonal groves on all four sides that span the entire length of the dowel rod. Each grove contains one of four sized circular wooden discs with circumference measurements of 1 inch., 1.5 inches, 2 inches, and 2.5 inches, respectively. The discs varied in color depending on its size; the smallest disc was coated yellow, followed by orange, red, and the largest was blue. They were arranged with the smallest at the top and the largest at the bottom, producing a spiral effect.

 

             Upon concluding my investigation, it is my belief that this location was used to store precious objects, pray, and leave offerings for their gods. Artifact one may have been used to store religious ritualistic garments as evident by the few carefully placed and neatly folded garments remaining in the drawers. Its vertical reflective surface provides its user an opportunity to verify a presentable appearance before beginning religious activities. Artifact two is thought to be an alter for which gifts and offerings can be placed, or the dead could lay here during ceremonies. This conclusion is due to its higher elevation from the wood floor, the wood base’s decorative glossy finish, and the better quality of the red fabric covering.  I believe artifact three to be a prayer rug due to its location and the color contrast between it and the altar.  The vertical fibers offering cushion to the patron while kneeling in prayer or praise. Finally, artifact four may have been used in ceremony rituals to represent the variety of believers uniting in order achieve ascension into the heavens as each disc is independent from the next but reliant on the dowel for security.  They create the visually appealing spiral when all discs are present and in the correct location.

 

            While pretending to be an archaeologist from the distant planet Namreh sent to survey Earth was exciting it was also a mental work out of the imagination. While the scenario played out within this essay lacked unforeseen problems and complications the same cannot be said for real archaeological work. Archaeologists today can face problems when interpreting artifacts due to differences in cultural background, resulting in misconceptions of artifact purposes or meaning and its past owner. An example of which would be a White archaeologist from America interpreting a small hut in a developing country and misidentifies a small altar for a bed due to the fact that they themselves have never slept anywhere but in a bed. Another issue for archaeology is looting, which can be devastating to an archaeologist reliant on drawing from context clues for important historical information. According to Rebecca Sgouros: “An artifact can provide a large amount of information to an archaeologist. Its shape and physical features can tell them how it was used, as a cutting tool, for example, and the context in which it was found can provide further conclusions. If this cutting tool was found with animal bone, we might infer that hunting, butchering, or cooking activities had happened here.” Looting funds terrorist organizations and put archaeologists lives in danger, “The destruction and looting of Iraqi and Syrian cultural heritage are well documented. Experts agree that terrorist groups intend to obtain artifacts and other material culture to profit from an existing market for ancient Near Eastern art and antiquities, especially ancient coins” (Pineda). Vandalism and destruction are also large issues where archaeologists can only draw conclusions from what is present at a site. If artifacts are destroyed and removed from the site before the archaeologists have time to investigate and record their existence, then who is to say they ever existed. Dr. Christine Boston (2023) said, “Whoever controls the past ultimately can control the narrative of the present”. An example of trying to erase history by destroying its proof would be the Taliban governments deliberate destruction of Buddha statues in order to falsify the Islamic history in their favor and remove any evidence contradicting its claims. “When the Taliban announced their plan to destroy the statues in 2001, they had come under heavy international pressure to keep them standing. But, labeling them un-Islamic, the group brought the statues down using heavy explosives” (Joselow).

 

            Those ignorant of the past are destined to repeat its mistakes, which is one reason why archaeology is so important and should not be taken for granted. The work conducted by archaeologists gives scholars insight and knowledge from the past and its inhabitants.  Archaeologists must be able to draw from the evidence present around them, which is why preservation of the site's contents is so important.  Additionally, this information is critical in allowing archaeologists to be able to make unbiased conclusions.

           

                                                            Works cited.

 

Boston, C. E. & Lincoln University. (n.d.). Chapter 19: Materiality Constructing Social Relationships & Meanings With Things [Slide 4,11; Power point].].

Joselow, Gabe, and Rachel Elbaum. “The Taliban Destroyed Afghanistan’s Ancient Buddhas. Now They’re Welcoming Tourists.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 24 Nov. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-destroyed-afghanistans-ancient-buddhas-now-welcoming-tourists-rcna6307. 

Pineda, Sam. “Tackling Illicit Trafficking of Antiquities and Its Ties to Terrorist Financing - United States Department of State.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, 1 Dec. 2020, 2017-2021.state.gov/tackling-illicit-trafficking-of-antiquities-and-its-ties-to-terrorist-financing/. 

Sgouros, Rebecca. “How Archaeologists Study the Past.” Natick Historical Society, NATICK HISTORY MUSEUM, www.natickhistoricalsociety.org/how-archaeologists-study. Accessed 19 Nov. 2023. 

Spotlight on Students: Thinking Like An Archaeologist

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.

 

Map of the site (Source: Nichole Voegeli)

By: Nichole Voegeli

 

In 2123, there was a wide-scale battle between AI and humans in the region of the world now known as Midwestia of New Europe. We do not know who “AI” was; however, they must have been powerful because they won the war, forcing the remaining humans to go underground for about a thousand years. Over the last thousand years, humans have re-acclimated to the outer world. During this re-acclimation period, our ancestors gathered some information about the world before the AI war, and they determined that the area that my team of archaeologists is examining was once known as the City of Jefferson in the Missouri region of the United States. My name is Nichole Voegeli, and I am an archaeologist tasked with creating a report detailing the site, artifacts, and interpretations of our findings.

            The site we are examining is rectangular with ten-foot walls coated in a beige substance and devoid of artifacts. I have attached a map with dimensions for reference. In the center of the room is a two-foot high, medium-sized round table with a diameter of about four feet. On the western side of the table, there is a large object, approximately six feet long and three feet wide, shaped like an elongated chair covered with dirty fabric that may have been white at one time. This long chair faces the eastern wall, and there is a set of two matching chairs on the eastern side of the table facing the western wall. The two chairs look similar to the long chair but are only two and a half feet by three feet in size. The site features an eight-foot by 15-foot structure located on the southern wall, made out of gray bricks with a hollow core that starts two feet from the floor and runs upwards through the center of the structure. The bottom two feet of this structure jut out into the room by two feet. The rest of the brick feature sticks out from the wall by six inches. At the top of the two-by-two-foot jut, there is a three-foot by two-foot by two-foot opening that gives access to the bottom of the hollow core. The floor of this hallow opening is covered in ashes, and the brick walls are lined with black dust-like material. The ashes and the black dust suggest that the brick feature was used to contain a fire, but we are not sure what the purpose of the fire was. It could be for warmth, food, or other purposes that we know nothing of.

            We recovered three artifacts from the site. The first artifact was found on the table in the center of the site, facing the brick structure. It is a one-foot-tall object made of stone and other materials with a green cone-shaped head. Its body is round and orange in color, but the bottom of the body is flat and white. The front of the body is covered with a white, triangular, hair-like fabric that tapers to a point at the bottom of the object. There is a small, round beige ball attached to the front of the object, between the upper white fabric and the green cone. On either side of the white fabric, there are red and beige arm-like appendages sticking out of the object, just below the green cone. Since this object appears to be humanoid, I hypothesize that the white hairy fabric represents a beard, the beige ball is its nose, and the appendages are its arms. This object is missing eyes, a mouth, and feet. Attached to the lower portion of the green cone, just to the right of the nose, is a set of yellow-orange leaves with three small red balls clustered in the center of the leaves. The location where we found this artifact suggests its importance and its humanoid shape leads us to believe that it represents a god. The orange, yellow, and red colors found on the artifact are reminiscent of fire, which may mean that the god it represented was a fire god.

            The second artifact is two feet wide, three feet long, and about two feet tall made out of seven black half-inch diameter metal bars. Five parallel bars spaced eight inches apart sit on top of and perpendicular to two parallel bars spaced seven inches apart. The ends of each bar are curved away from where the seven bars connect. This artifact was found on the floor of the hollow core of the brick structure. It is covered in black dust and ashes.

We found the third artifact next to the opening of the hollow core. This artifact is a black half-inch diameter metal rod three feet in length. At one end there is a seven-inch-long yellow metal piece that has smooth ridges and terminates with a ball-shaped tip. This yellow piece fits the grip of my hand nicely, which leads me to think it was made to hold the rod. The opposite end of the rod tapers to a point and at about six inches from the bottom of the point, the rod splits creating a three-inch hook that curves up towards the yellow attachment. The points of the rod have traces of the same black dust and ash that is in the hollow core and on the second artifact. Since the second and third artifacts have traces of ash and black dust and were found near the brick feature, we suspect that these items were used as tools for burning items. We sent samples of the ash and black dust to the lab for testing. Once we get the results back, we may be able to better determine what items were burned.

            Since the second and third artifacts were covered in the same ash material that was found in the brick structure, they may have been used as tools for burning various items. The central location of the humanoid object and the colors found on it are similar to that of fire, suggesting that it was used as a physical representation of a fire deity. The location of the seating, being on either side of the brick feature and the table, hints towards the idea that the room was used as a place to hold small gatherings. The combination of our findings suggests that the space was used for ritual purposes, where the individuals would gather around the table with the humanoid object facing the brick structure while they used the metal items as tools to aid in the burning of various items that could potentially have been used as offerings to their deity.

            While working on this site we had a couple of challenges with gathering artifacts and finding useful clues to provide insight to the past that we were looking at. One challenge is that the site did have signs that there were other furnishings and artifacts in the room, however, they were no longer there. We suspect these items either degraded over time, were not uncovered yet, or were stolen (Sqouros). The other challenge was interpreting the clues we had without involving our current cultural norms. When I was taking classes to be an archaeologist, I remember reading about an example of this particular challenge, I read, “Culturally today, most people drink from a cup. Therefore, if an artifact that looks like a cup is discovered, it is not unreasonable to propose that the people who used it used it as a cup as we do; however, this reasoning is flawed. Twenty-first century Western culture has developed the use of tools in a very different way to ancient societies.” (“Archaeological Interpretation”).

 

Works Cited

“Archaeological Interpretation.” Archaeology Expert, 28 Apr. 2022, www.archaeologyexpert.co.uk/archaeologicalinterpretation.html#. 

Sgouros, Rebecca. “How Archaeologists Study the Past.” Natick Historical Society, www.natickhistoricalsociety.org/how-archaeologists-study. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023. 

 

 

Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something New: Joulupukki, the Finnish Santa Clause

 

Figure 1: A man dressed as the Finnish version of Santa Clause, the Joulupukki (Source: BBC)

If you peruse the blog you may happen upon a post about St. Nicholas, which details the German traditions and celebrations associated with this holiday.  Many readers have associated this individual with the modern conceptions of Santa Clause, but this is just one of the many traditions and customs that has contributed to our modern understanding of Santa Clause, which is derived from various European cultures.  This cultural sharing has not been one way, though.  These modern conceptions of American/Western Santa Clause have also influenced European cultural traditions, including leading to the creation of a new tradition: Joulupukki (Figure 1).  Today’s blog post will discuss what the Joulupukki is, how it came to be, and how its creation has influenced and changed Finnish culture.

 

Joulupukki is Finnish, and it literally translate to “Yule Goat”.  Joulupukki represents a modern Finnish version of Santa Clause in that it is a man who dresses in flowing red robes, rides a sleigh driven by reindeer.  He exists in a remote area of Finland known as Korvatunturi, which translates into “Ear Fell”. This is a region of Finland where only Joulupukki can hear everything, thereby knowing which children have been naughty and which have been nice.  At Christmas time he goes door to door ringing his loud bell, asking to be invited into the home to provide gifts to those children who made the nice list. 

 

The belief in Joulupukki is so strong that Finns claim that they were the ones who invented the modern Santa Clause.  This idea does have some credence since the popular icon of Santa Clause was created by Finnish American artist Haddon Sundblom in the 1930s.  Unfortunately for Finns Santa Clause actual predates the conception of the Joulupukki, and the Joulupukki was actually the Finns answer to conflicting cultural traditions and beliefs. 

 

The Joulupukki was created out of a need to rectify and rationalize competing pagan and Christian beliefs.  Prior to the adoption and conversion to Christianity Finns, along with many across Europe, celebrated Yule or various other Midwinter rituals and celebrations.  For Finns a goat predominated the season.  It is unclear why it was a goat, but it is believed to be tied to the pagan god Thor, who rode a chariot driven by goats.  Goats remain an important icon of the holiday season as large wicker goats act as holiday décor.  This may also be how and why Joulupukki, which means “Yule Goat,” got its name.

 

Figure 2: Man dressed as the nuuttipukki (Source: Harris 1)

 

The specific pagan holiday that is most closely associated with being the origination point for the Joulupukki was celebrated on January 13, and it still is as part of St. Knut’s Day.  Traditionally, young men would don goat like costumes wherein they would wear furs, leather, deer antlers, and straw/hay, thereby taking on the role of nuuttipukki (Figure 2).  They would then go door to door demanding left over food and drink from the previous mid-winter or Yule celebrations.  Those patrons who would not given in to these demands risked having all sorts of misfortunes happening to them, including but not limited to disgruntled animals, harassment of the household, and/or loss of crops or food.  This misfortune is actually believed to be tied to the mischievous nature of the roaming bands of young men playing the role of nuuttipukki.  They would demand alcoholic beverages above all else, and as the night went on they would get drunker, and if their demands for food and drink were not met the likelihood of them acting out increased.  More often than not households would hand over any available food and drink to avoid the havoc the nuuttipukki would cause otherwise. 

 

Today the nuuttipukki tradition continues to be celebrated on St. Knut’s Day, albeit in a far altered and tamer way.  Young children now don less scary nuuttipukki costumes and they go door to door asking for sweet treats.  The holiday is far more similar to Halloween than what it originally represented, but it continues to be celebrated as a means of closing out the holiday season and paying homage to Finnish pagan roots, which continue to influence their culture traditions and beliefs.

 

Works Cited

Harris, Kathleen. "How Joulupukki, the Finnish Santa, went from naughty to nice." 22 December 2015. Ink Tank. Electronic. 14 November 2023.

No Author. "St Knut’s Day in Finland: the Nuuttipukki." 20 January 2023. All Things Nordic. Electronic. 14 November 2023.

Sirén, Ilkka. "Does Santa Claus come from Finland?" BBC 23 December 2017. Electronic.