Anth 221
Materials and Civilization: An Overview of Archaeometry
Spring 2004. Tu, Th 10:30-11:50, Campus Honors House 212
"Materials and Civilization..." is an introduction to archaeometry, the
interface between archaeology, art history, and the natural and
physical sciences. This interdisciplinary field requires close
collaboration between different specialists who employ modern
instrumental techniques (e.g. carbon-14 dating and neutron activation
analysis) to study aspects of ancient materials. Applications range
from archaeological fieldwork to conservation of museum objects and
historic monuments, including such topics as ancient nutrition and
diet, early tool use, sourcing of ceramics, prospection and
geoarchaeology, dating, and art forgery. The class will be enlivened by
guest lectures, classroom debates on topics such as the Shroud of Turin
and the First Americans, and field trips to campus museums and
laboratories. Evaluation will be based both on written work and oral
participation.
Prerequisites: Campus
Honors Program or consent of instructor; no prior
coursework.
Instructor:
Dr. Sarah U. Wisseman, Director
Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials (ATAM),
116 Observatory, MC 190
tel: 333-6629, e-mail:
wisarc@uiuc.edu
Office hours: by
appointment (e-mail works best!).
After completing a B.A. in Anthropology at Harvard University and a
Ph.D in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College,
Dr. Wisseman worked as a curator and researcher at the World
Heritage/Spurlock Museum prior to joining ATAM. Her special interests
are ceramic technology and archaeometry, including experimental
replication of Etruscan, Roman, and North American pottery. She has
participated in archaeological excavations in Israel, Italy, and North
America and supervised numerous archaeometric projects such as the one
on the University of Illinois' Egyptian mummy.
Guest Lecturers for 2004:
*Mastura Raheel (Textile Sciences, UIUC)
* John Abelson (Materials Science, UIUC)
* Stanley Ambrose (Anthropology, UIUC)
* Steve Altaner (Geology, UIUC)
* Keith Hackley(Illinois State Geological Survey, UIUC)
* Linda Klepinger (Anthropology, UIUC)
*Ivan Petrov and Mauro Sardela (Materials Research Laboratory)
Course requirements and
grading:
Students will be expected to participate in classroom debates and
discussions, write two 5 pg. papers plus a couple of short assignments,
and complete one in-class essay.
Grading will be as follows:
Debate presentation: 20%
Short oral report, class participation, and class attendance: 10%
First paper: 20%
Second paper: 30%
In class essay: 20%
TOTAL: 100%
REQUIRED BOOK (available
for purchase at UIUC bookstores and on reserve
in the Undergraduate Library):
Joseph LAMBERT, Traces of the Past: Unraveling the
Secrets of
Archaeology through Chemistry (Perseus Books 1997)
Recommended book: (available
used for $11-22 at www.amazon.com):
Sheridan Bowman, Science and the Past
(British Museum 1991, also U. of
Toronto Press)
CLASS WEB
SITE: http://www2.uiuc.edu/unit/ATAM/teach/uscourse.html
This class has an ordinary website for an on-line record of your
syllabus, reading list, etc. Other communication will be via e-mail.
ELECTRONIC RESERVES: from
any connected terminal, go to
http://web.library.uiuc.edu/ereserves/querycourse.asp
Choose “Anth 221- Wisseman, Sarah” to
access our readings.
ASSIGNED READINGS BY TOPIC:
(ER=Electronic Reserve, UG=On reserve
at Undergrad library reserve
desk, CHP=extra copies on reserve at Campus Honors house)
1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCHAEOMETRY,
ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL
CONCEPTS
**P. Zurer, "Archaeological Chemistry" C&En (Feb. 21, 1983) pp.
26-42 (ER, CHP).
**C. Scarre, “High-Tech Digging,” Archaeology,
September/October 1999,
pp.51-55. (ER, CHP)
Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn, Archaeology
(2nd Ed. 1996), ch. 2 "What is
Left: the Variety of the Evidence"
(UG)
“Science and Technology: Two Cultures United,” Economist, Nov. 9, 2002,
pp. 83-85. (ER)
WISSEMAN AND WILLIAMS, ch. 1 "Why study artifacts?..." (ER)
2. EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
**N. Toth, "The First Technology," Scientific American (ER)
3. ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS
LAMBERT, Ch. 3, "Pottery." (UG)
**I. Freestone, "Ceramic Petrography, " American Journal of Archaeology
99 (1995) 111-115 (ER).
4. DATING TECHNIQUES
BOWMAN, Ch. 7 (Bowman), "Questions of
Chronology." (UG)
Renfrew and Bahn, Archaeology,
ch. 4 "When?" (UG)
5. GEOARCHAEOLOGY
LAMBERT, ch. 1 "Stone." (UG)
LAMBERT, ch. 2, "Soil." (UG)
**Berry and Bamforth, “Microwear Analysis of Prehistoric Stone Tools,”
MRS Bulletin, March
1989, pp. 45-48. (ER)
6. GEOLOGY OF MARBLE
**Herz and Wenner, "Tracing the Origins of Marble," Archaeology 34 no.
5
(Sept./Oct 1981) (ER)
**Margolis, "Authenticating Ancient Marble Sculpture," Scientific
American
(June 1989) (ER)
7. MUSEUM APPLICATIONS
**BOWMAN CH. 8, "Spotting the Fakes,"
(by P. Craddock and S. Bowman)
(UG)
**WISSEMAN AND WILLIAMS, Ch. 9
(Williams), "Science and the Art
Museum...," (UG, CHP)
Skim Prudence Rice, Pottery Analysis (1987) ch.
13 "Mineral and
Chemical
Characterization," (UG)
Bowman, ch. 10 (handout), “The limits of expertise.”(also UG).
8. J. PAUL GETTY
MUSEUM KOUROS
You do not need to
read everything on this topic—read the starred
articles first, plus what you need for your part of the debate.
*"Summary of Scientific Research on the Getty Kouros" (1992
unpublished
paper, given to participants in the Athens colloquium) (short 3 pg
version--UG)
Separate articles:
**M. True, "A Kouros at the Getty Museum" Burlington Magazine (ER)
*"Summary of Scientific Research on the Getty Kouros" (long version
(30+ pgs—UG, CHP)
Herz, "Isotopic Analysis of Marble," in George Rapp, Jr., and J. A.
Gifford (Eds) Archaeological
Geology (Yale University Press, New Haven
1985). (UG)
**Heller and Herz, "Weathering of Dolomitic Marble and the Role of
Oxalates"
in The Study of Marble and
Other Stone... ed. Y. Maniatis (1995) (UG,
CHP)
*Excerpts from the Getty
Kouros Colloquium (1993) by Harrison,
Holtzmann
(style) and Rockwell (carving techniques) (UG, CHP)
**J. Spier, "Blinded by Science" Burlington Magazine (1990)
(ER)
Robert Bianchi, “Saga of The Getty Kouros,” Archaeology (May/June 1994)
(CHP)
9. GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING
T. Sever, "Remote Sensing," and B. Bevan "Geophysical Prospecting," in
P. McGovern, ed., "Science in Archaeology: A Review," American Journal
of Archaeology 99 (1995) pp. 111-115 and 83-90 (ER)
**F. El-Baz, "Space Age Archaeology," Scientific American (August
1997)
pp. 60-65 (ER).
10. ARCHAEOMETALLURGY
LAMBERT, ch. 7, "Metals." (UG)
**BOWMAN, ch. 5, “Metalwork: Artiface and artistry” (UG)
11.
THE SHROUD OF TURIN
You do not need to
read everything on this topic—read the starred
articles first, plus what you need for your part of the debate.
**B. Culliton, "The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin Challenges 20th
Century Science," Science 201
(21 July 1978) pp. 235-239 (ER).
*Johnson "Scientists examine The Shroud of Turin," Industrial
Research/Development (Feb. 1980) (ER)
*Waldrop "The Shroud of Turin: An answer is at hand.. "Science 241 (30
Sept.
1988) (ER)
**Damon, et al. "Radiocarbon dating of the Shroud of Turin," Nature
(Feb. 16,
1989) (ER)
Joseph Nickell, Inquest on
the Shroud of Turin (1983), at least chps 11
and
12 (other chps useful for provenance and imaging: 1-4, 7, 8) (UG)
J. Lambert, Archaeological
Chemistry III (1982) Carter "Formation of
the Image…" and Jumper "A comprehensive examination…" articles
(chapters 21 and 22) (UG)
**Kouznetsov, et al., "Effects of Fire..." Journal of Arch. Science
(1996) (ER)
**McCrone, "The Shroud of Turin: Blood or Artist's Pigment?" Accounts
of
Chemical Research vol. 23 (March 1990) (ER)
**Warner, "The Shroud of Turin" Anal. Chem. 61, no. 2
(1/15/89) (ER)
David van Biema, “Science and the Shroud,” Time (April 20, 1998) (CHP)
Additional Shroud resources:
You may want to check out Ian Wilson, The
Shroud of Turin (1978). Also Relic, Icon, or Hoax? Carbon
Dating the
Turin Shroud by Harry E. Gove (1996) (both on reserve UG). Also
check
out Shroud pages on the web (see External Links on our Blackboard
site).
12. ORGANIC MATERIALS AND HUMAN
REMAINS
LAMBERT, ch. 6, "Organics." (UG)
LAMBERT, ch. 8 "Humans." (UG)
**T. Douglas Price, “Tracing the Migrants’ Trail: Strontium Isotopes
Record Prehistoric Journeys,” Scientific
American Discovering
Archaeology Sept/Oct 2000, pp. 26-31. (ER)
**WISSEMAN, Ch. 12 , "Imaging the Past..." (UG, CHP)
**Proefke, et al., “Probing the Mysteries of Ancient Egypt: Chemical
analysis of a Roman Period Egyptian Mummy, “ Analytical Chemistry 64,
no. 2, Jan 15, 1992, pp. 105A-111A. (ER)
13. RECONSTRUCTION OF PALEODIET
1-pg class handout "Teeth Divulge Prehistoric Landscape"
Skim Stan Ambrose's chapter, "Isotopic Analysis of Paleodiets..." in
Mary
K. Sandford, ed., Investigations
of Ancient Human Tissue (1993). (UG)
14. THE FIRST AMERICANS
You do not need to
read everything on this topic—read the starred
articles first, plus what you need for your part of the debate.
*Parfit, M. “The Hunt for the First Americans” National Geographic
(December 2000) pp. 41-67. (ER)
* Nemecek, Sasha, “Who were the First Americans?” Scientific American
(September 2000), pp. 78-87. (ER)
*“The Puzzle of the First Americans,” Scientific American Discovering
Archaeology,
Jan/Feb 2000, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 30-71 (includes short articles by
Dixon, Fiedel, Frison, Gruhn, Harris, Haynes, Hofman, Owsley, Prag,
Schurr, Stanford, Steele, Tankersley, Thomas, and Waters). (ER)
**T. Powledge and M. Rose, "The Great DNA Hunt, Part II: Colonizing the
Americas," Archaeology November/December
1996 pp. 58-68. (ER)
**Tankersley, "A Matter of Superior Spearpoints," Archaeology,
July/August 1999, pp.60-63 (ER)
*Charles W. Petit, 1998,“Rediscovering America,” U.S. News and World
Report, pp. 56-64. (ER, also web links for “First Americans”)
*David Hurst Thomas, 2000, “Busting the Clovis Barrier,” and “What
Modern Archaeologists Think about the Earliest Americans, ” pp.
157-174, Skull Wars
(Basic Books, New York) (ER)
Tom Dillehay, “Lingering Questions,” The Settlement of the Americas: A
New Prehistory, (Basic Books 2000), ch. 11, pp. 281-293. (ER,
UG)
*Brian Fagan, 2000, “The First Settlement, “Ancient North America,
(Thames and Hudson, London), ch. 4, pp. 69-90. (ER, UG)
*************************
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES (on reserve in
UG):
Mark Pollard and Carl Heron, Archaeological
Chemistry (Royal Society of
Chemistry 1996)
Enrico Ciliberto and Geuseppe Spoto, eds, Modern
Analytical Methods in Art and Archaeology, (John Wiley and Sons
2000)
Taylor, R.E. and Martin J. Aitken, eds, Chronometric Dating in
Archaeology, Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science, Vol.
2
(Plenum Press,New York, 1997)
Norman Herz and Ervan G. Garrison,
Geological Methods for
Archaeology (Oxford University Press 1998)
Sarah
Wisseman, The Virtual Mummy (Univ.
of Illinois Press, 2003).
**A very
useful reference tool is: Art and
Archaeology Technical Abstracts, call
# 016.913 IN8.
You can search it by technique, material or various conservation and
technological topics.
WRITTEN
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. SHORT PAPER (5 PAGES,
DOUBLE-SPACED): Summarize one aspect of a classroom debate for which
you are NOT giving an oral presentation (ex. if you are doing the
Kouros, choose either the Shroud or the First Americans). Cite your
major sources.
2. TERM PAPER (5-10 PAGES, DOUBLE-SPACED): Exhibit plan and label for
Greek vase exhibit.
3. IN-CLASS ESSAY.
ORAL
ASSIGNMENTS:
1. Prepare
your debate presentation, planning on no
more than 20 minutes. Clarity
and organization count as much as content. Talk to Dr. Wisseman
if you
wish to use slides, make handouts, etc. A laptop with Powerpoint is
available from CHP, but we have to reserve it.
2. 5 MINUTE oral report
on one of the double-starred readings (due different days depending on
reading chosen).
LECTURE
SCHEDULE FOR ANTH 221, SPRING 2004:
T 1/20
INTRO; ARCHAEOMETRY
TH 1/22 ANTHRO. AND ARCHAEOLOG. CONCEPTS
T 1/27 ENVIRONMENTAL ARCH.; CERAMICS INTRO
TH 1/29 KRANNERT ART MUSEUM VISIT.
Meet at Kinkead Pavilion entrance.
T 2/3 CERAMICS, CONT.; GREEK TILE-MAKING
TH 2/5 DECORATING TILES; CERAMIC ARCHAEOMETRY;
T 2/10 FINISH CERAMICS; GEOARCHAEOLOGY
TH 2/12 GEOARCHAEOLOGY, CONT; HARBOTTLE VIDEO
T 2/17 DATING TECHNIQUES
TH 2/19 RADIOCARBON LAB VISIT. Meet
at Nat. Res. Bdg room 187.
TU 2/24 TEXTILE LAB (M. RAHEEL). Meet
at Bevier Hall, room .
TH 2/26 MUSEUM APPLICATIONS
T 3/2 SHROUD DEBATE
TH 3/4 SHROUD DEBATE
T 3/9 ARCHAEOMETALURGY
TH 3/11 FERROUS METALS (J. ABELSON). First paper due.
T 3/16 MARBLE LAB (ALTANER) Meet at
Natu. Hist. Bdg room 206.
TH 3/18 SPURLOCK MUSEUM. Meet inside
Spurlock in lobby.
SPRING BREAK MARCH 21-26
T 3/30 FINE ART OF FAKING IT VIDEO
TH 4/1 PIMA APPLICATIONS
T 4/6 KOUROS DEBATE
TH 4/8 KOUROS DEBATE
T 4/13 AMBROSE LAB OR MRL TOUR
TH 4/15 BIOMATERIALS
T 4/20 FIRST AMERICANS
TH 4/22 FIRST AMERICANS. Second paper
due.
T 4/27 MRL TOUR OR AMBROSE LAB
TH 4/29 IN-CLASS ESSAY
T 5/4 WRAP-UP, SHROUD SHORTS, EVALUATIONS