Episode 5 – E for Ethnoarchaeology, Axum Stelae Site Visit, and Archaeology Porn

Into the Dust Archaeology

ABCs of Archaeology – E is for Ethnoarchaeology
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0_7tpi1ivU&list=PLcH4-BWqVM6KHP2Ih6UEq4_G1qRq8MgSn&index=4

Ethnoarchaeology is a fascinating part of archaeology that brings in anthropological observations from present-day societies or past societies that were around recently enough to have been rigorously documented. The idea is to observe how these societies leave material traces which can be observed and used to provide analogies for what archaeologists find in the material record. While strictly speaking it’s all about behavior leaving material traces, closely related is ethnography, which also provides analogies into meanings. What did this represent to these ancient people? Well, here are some ideas for how other societies interpret it… Those are used interchangeably enough (though they are not quite the same thing), so I cover both here.

Living Archaeology Site Visit – This week, we’re going to the northern region of Ethiopia, called Tigray. Once home to a mighty Christian empire, Tigray today is in the midst of recovering from a ruinous civil war (2020-2022). However, the many monuments there attest to its rich and unique history. One of those are its stelae – giant carved slabs of granite that stand as monuments to kings around the 4th century AD. Some of these stelae (plural of stele) have lived interesting lives, including one which was taken by Italy during its brief colonial rule, erected in Rome and then repatriated to Ethiopia in 2005. Surrounding these megalithic stelae are hundreds of smaller plain ones, monuments to long forgotten people of the Aksumite empire.

References:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/15/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ezana%27s_Stele
https://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/museum/exhibits/virtual-exhibits/aksum/aksumite-stelae.html
https://journals.openedition.org/palethnologie/5778#tocto1n2
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/2486/111p023.pdf

Archaeology Porn – Sometimes throughout history normal people go through life not realizing they were destined for fame as an international archaeology porn stars. That is true for our subject today, Lucy, a 3.18 million year old Australopithecus Afarensis, an early hominin relative of ours (though humans, or homo sapiens, are not direct descendants of her). Found in Ethiopia, Lucy caused a sensation in with her discovery in 1974 as one of the most complete skeletons ever found at that time of such an ancient hominin. Let’s travel to Ethiopia and meet her! Her story raises a lot of interesting questions…
#archaeology #history #science