Vassar Archaeology

yunathetuna:

The archaeology of ritual exhibits one of the most important aspects of a people: their beliefs and have they behave because of those beliefs. Before developed technology, science, philosophy, etc. indigenous cultures believed performing ceremonial rituals and carrying around charms to ward off…

Per our recent discussion of cultural evolution check out the following link:

A recent archaeological study analyzed the residue from North Baltic pottery in order to determine what kinds of foods people were eating/preparing.  Typically, archaeologists think of early pottery as being directly connected to the early domestication of plants and animals, however, researchers found that the early pottery (c. 4000 BC) contained residues from both wild and domesticated resources.  This indicates that the shift from a Hunter-Gatherer to Agrarian subsistence pattern was much more complex than archaeologists have theorized.

Following our discussion today of CRM, here’s a fascinating look at the labor stats for professional Anthropologists and Archaeologists.

kateshelton:

By watching “Ishi: The Last Yahi”, I was able to learn about what Ishi saw, instead of just Kroeber and the other anthropologists studying him. It was an interesting perspective to have, and it proved something very interesting: during the anthropologists’ study, Ishi learned more about white…

xiarchaeology:

One unfortunate paradox that was easily observed in the movie was the fascination for Native American culture matched with a total disregard for actual Native Americans. The worst indication of this was the incident when a group of surveyors startled a group of Yahi out of their camp and then took…

chuckherrmann:

Kroeber is able to complete a lot of new and interesting work on Native American culture with the assistance of Ishi. The fact that Ishi was born and raised a Native American, without any Euro/American influence was a huge discovery. Ishi being an unbiased native gave Kroeber insights into how…

kevinbehan:

The documentary Ishi: The Last Yahi was a very interesting look at the life of a member of a dying race. My favorite aspect of the movie was Ishi’s reaction to the modern world. His acceptance of the extreme changes his life went under after being taken in by Kroeber really helped me understand a…

cc-archaeology:

I was most interested in the relationship between Ishi and Kroeber. In the movie it seemed that they became good friends who gave each other compassion and respect, highlighted by Kroeber’s urgent letter to the hospital instructing them not to give Ishi an autopsy because of his beliefs….

misterjonesandme:

Ishi and the Yahi tribe provide insight into ore modern-day indigenous people and their ways of life. The Yahi tribe also brings to light the concerning relations between modernized America and indigenous America, which are two very distinct societies. Before Ishi was discovered, he was a…

kenziequinn:

I found the nature of the relationship that formed between Kroeber and Ishi to be very interesting. Initially I thought that Kroeber’s actions would indefinitely mirror those of colonial archaeologists. I thought that his intense desire to find an uncontaminated Indian would blind his ethical…

alparayannilam:

The archaeologist brings up some misconceptions about archaeology, the steps he took to become an archaeologist, and information about the field work he’s currently doing. Interesting read.

alparayannilam:

The discovery gives archaeologists the opportunity to learn more about life styles and beliefs in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Periods through the study of burial practices. 

yunathetuna:

Ishi, the last Yahi, was discovered hiding away from white civilization and brought into society in the early 1900s. He was the last remaining member of his tribe and his culture, the Yahi people having been stamped out and hunted by the white man for decades previously. At that time, Manifest…

For some reason I have always wanted to find an old shoe.  Shoes turn up in the oddest of places: squirreled away in thatched roof houses from the Medieval Period, hidden in holes along with other households items, seemingly forgotten by the side of the road.  In this case, there’s a cache of Roman shoes found in Scotland, which likely belong to the Roman soldiers living along the far northern border.

andrewnicol:

As I walked from class to class today, I noticed several factors which could greatly affect the landscape and archaeological deposit of Vassar College. From experience, I know students take advantage of the small campus we live and love. We often wait to leave for class until ten minutes before…