Anth 321W Intellectual Background of Archaeology

Anth 321WIntellectual Background of Archaeology MWF 9:00-9:55AM 008 Life Sciences Bldg

First decipherment of an ancient language: Palmyrene Not Egyptian. Daniels, P. T. 1988 "Shewing of Hard Sentences and Dissolving of Doubts": The First Decipherment. Journal of the American Oriental Society 108(3):419-436. http://www.jstor.org/stable/603863 1754 Jean Jacques Barthelemy deciphered Palmyrene text

Systematic study of ancient Egypt began with Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1789-1799. • 1809 began the publication of a multi-volume Description de l’Egypte. • Accidental discovery of the Rosetta Stone • Bilingual inscription that by 1822 permitted decipherment of Egyptian scripts. • Decipherment of Egyptian script stimulated new excavations • 1858, greater control placed on excavation.

Nicolas Steno (1638-1686) • Danish scholar considered the father of geology and stratigraphy. • Steno’s observation that fossilized sharks teeth were found in deposits of rock, led him to ask why one solid object could be found in another solid. • “Solid bodies within bodies” also included what we now describe as minerals, crystals, encrustations, veins and entire strata. • Steno’s (1669) Dissertationisprodromuscontains three of the most fundamental principles of stratigraphy: • the law of superposition: "...at the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid, and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata existed“ • the principle of original horizontality: "Strata either perpendicular to the horizon or inclined to the horizon were at one time parallel to the horizon“ • the principle of lateral continuity: "Material forming any stratum were continuous over the surface of the Earth unless some other solid bodies stood in the way"; and the principle of cross-cutting discontinuities: "If a body or discontinuity cuts across a stratum, it must have formed after that stratum."[7]

Antoine-Yves Goguet (1716-1758) • Three volume work entitled “The Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences, and their Progress among the Most Ancient Nations” (1758). • All three volumes on the Internet Archive. • John Adams version is scanned!!! • http://www.archive.org/details/originoflawsarts01gogu • Goguet asserted a succession of stone, bronze, and iron ages.

Antoine de Jussieu 1732Origin and Uses of the Thunderstone • Tradition of thunderstones common in northern Europe • Idol of the thunderbolt. Stones were kept as protection against thunder and lightning. • Helwing, a Prussian minister, wrote a treatise on the stones. • Rumphius, who wrote on the shells of China, mentions a similar attribution of thunderstones. • Observed that Native people use similar stones. • Axe from the Caribs • Wedge from Canada • 3 arrows with triangular flint points

Thomas Jefferson (1799) • Remains found in the context of mining. • Nitrates aided the preservation of bones. • The classification of animals by Buffon aided Jefferson’s identification that the animal was extinct. • Jefferson reasoned that the animal was a lion called Megalonyx (giant claw). • Jefferson asked Lewis and Clarke to watch for Megalonyx, as he believed the species still existed. Megalonyxjeffersonii

William Buckland 1822 • Diluvium, extensive superficial gravel deposits. • Buckland agrees with Cuvier’s theory of a recent and transient inundation. • Buckland examines a deposit that is older than the Diluvium stratum. • Animal remains found in the context of quarrying. • Bones preserved in carbonate rich muds. • Cave interpreted as the den of an extinct type of hyena • The cave bears evidence of a time when large land animals inhabited England. This was before the inundation of the Earth. Only in caves have these materials been protected.

Buckland began as a proponent of Cuvier (established extinction as a fact, major proponent of catastrophism, opposed evolutionary theories of Lamarck—based on observation of mummified cats Geoffry brought back from Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt). • After Darwin’s return from the Beagle (1836), he Buckland discussed the Land and Marine Iguanas. • Buckland recommended the publication of Darwin’s paper on earthworms. • By 1840, Buckland was convinced by the glaciation theory of Louis Agassiz. • Buckland also the first to provide a complete description of a dinosaur. • Based on observations by Mary Anning, Buckland coined the term coprolite and established the study of ancient feces. Mary Anning Luis Agassiz

Louis Agassiz • First person to propose an Ice Age. • Later became a major proponent of scientific racism. • Advocate of polygenism. • Denied that adaptation could account for geographic variability. This was evidence of polygenic origin. • Denied early evolutionary theories. • Employed evidence of Egyptian monuments to support his belief in fixed racial types.

DuriaAntiquior – A More Ancient Dorset (1830)Painted by Henry de la Beche based on Fossils found by Mary Anning.The work was inspired in part by Buckland, and he circulated the image widely

Anth 321W Intellectual Background of Archaeology