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Show 44 Jessica McCandless college of humanities Microarchaeology is a new methodology used to ascertain information on the primary context of archaeo-logical materials. Since prehistoric peoples tend to clean living surfaces, objects like pottery and stone tools are often discovered in refuse heaps and not in their original place of everyday use. The premise of microarchaeology is that tiny fragments broken off of artifacts during use, called microartifacts, are tram-pled into living surfaces. Therefore, these microartifacts are found much closer to their original context. Archaeologists take soil from intact living surfaces in order to find and analyze microartifacts. The data provides concrete evidence that contributes to an overall site interpretation. As part of my UROP fellow-ship, I processed several microarchaeological samples from Kenan Tepe, an archaeological site in south-eastern Turkey that dates to 4500 BCE. After sieving the samples, microartifacts are sorted and quantified. By considering the densities of various artifact categories, I propose hypotheses about where food was processed, cooked, and consumed, as well as the location of stone tool manufacture. The cook pot debris (rough ware ceramics) in outside surfaces is double that of the inside areas. This infor-mation supports the theory that cooking occurred outdoors while consumption of food took place within domestic structures. A spike in the density of flint debris suggests that flint napping took place in a specific area behind the house. On the other hand, there is little to no evidence of obsidian tool manufacture. The archaeological record reveals that obsidian was not found locally. One would have to travel great distances to acquire the material, likely flint napping along the journey home. Interestingly, the distribution of obsid-ian microartifacts is limited to inside surfaces. This suggests that obsidian was a prized material and used for specialized tasks within the home. Archaeology is a field where much of the material evidence is destroyed either by environmental condi-tions or simply by the passage of time. Any opportunity to attain additional information is an exciting prospect. It is my hope that our efforts will contribute to the development of microarchaeology on a global scale. It's an important methodology that allows archaeologists to see the unseen and better understand human history. MICROARCHAEOLOGY Jessica McCandless (Bradley Parker) Department of History University of Utah UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS Bradley Parker |
