Essay from Anthropology Examination
Essay from Anthropology Examination
Archaeology is a similar job to anthropology. Both study the various different cultures through out the world. The major difference is where their information is gathered from. Anthropologist get most of their info from living people and their skeletal remains. Where as an archaeologist finds the artifacts left behind. They gather these artifacts by excavation and are able to tell us a lot about our ancestors. Certain artifacts or sites can tell us all sorts of things such as the type of government, human behavior, how the culture ran itself, social organization, and especially the contact between other groups around the world.
All this does not come without its problems. Dig sites (a term used to signify an excavation site) are being destroyed in many ways. Environmental issues, political change, everyday expansion of the human race, thieves searching for buried treasure, and poor excavation are just a few problems that affect an archaeologist job.
The Paleolithic era is divided into three periods. The Lower, Middle, and Upper. Much of our advancement from “cavemen” to modern humans happened in the Upper Paleolithic. This portion of time is then separated into 5 groups based on the technology and tools. They are Chatelperronian, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian.
Some of the new ideals and beliefs that came out of the Paleolithic time concerned nature. Nature was seen as a wild threat and home of the barbarians and beast. We went from our equality with nature to the Greco-Roman era to the Judeo Christian days and now into science.
Some more changes were everyday tools. Such as spears. A simple point would let a fish slide off after stabbing it or the spear would fall out of a running deer. A spear designed with notches similar to today’s fish hooks. The materials that tools were made of also was enhanced. Instead of only stones or wood man began to use bone , ivory, and other natural resources to make a more complex tool box.
People also started to move things farther. Migration spread technology faster and established better shelters and hunting techniques. Hunting and gathering use to be the best way to find food. Gathering meant traveling around and collecting roots, berries, grains, etc.. Hunting meant exactly what it is, but it was performed differently. Often hunting was done in groups and with primitive weapons....