Hello,
Can you proofread my essay and offer suggestions on how to improve it? Thank you very much!
the prompt is:
What is the theoretical premise of archaeology? That is, how can it reconstruct a cultural system from a sample of its material artefacts?
Thank you in advance
Frederic
"They dig to find antique items then expose them into museums." That sentence perfectly illustrates the idea that the great majority of people have of the archaeologists' work. Although it seems obvious for everybody that archaeologists probe into the past to discover artefacts, the subsequent use of those pieces is far more obscure for ordinary people. However, previously, the theoretical premise of archaeology needs to be reminded. Archaeology is a subfield of anthropology, whose academic foundation rests on the concept that societies' worldview and cultural system reflect on the artefacts they produce. Consequently, the archaeologists endeavour not only to recover items but also to reconstruct past cultures from those material remains. How do archaeologists attempt to recreate cultural systems from pieces of artefacts? To reach this goal, archaeologists employ background research, fieldwork techniques, laboratory analyses, and interpretation.
Surprisingly enough, the first archaeologist's task is performed at her or his desk. Indeed, public or private agencies or companies provide their archaeologists with the opportunity to study definite geographical and temporal domains, in the framework of a budget and deadlines, as any employee. As an anthropologist of the past, an archaeologist must adhere to a holistic and scientific method. Consequently, rather than to rush headlong into digging, an archaeologist starts searching through academic journals, databases, personal or counterparts' previous works to gain a knowledge of the allocated topic as comprehensive as possible. The objective of such a survey is to prepare the archaeologist for her or his forthcoming encounters with what is certainly a multifarious culture. Moreover, that review supplies the archaeologists with the minimum background to enter the scientific method cycle of inductions and deductions.
Once the reviewing, administrative, and financial duties have been completed, an archaeologist engages in fieldwork. First, archaeological excavations are the fruit of either effort, knowledge of the location of historically valuable sites or chance, builders may come across early artefacts when digging. Nonetheless, in any case, archaeologists dig test pits and the soil is screened to reveal the potential presence of human artefacts. Once a coherent estimate of the geographical limits of an archaeologically valuable site has been drawn, the archaeologists accurately record the dimensions of the site, and then establish a three-dimensional grid system to locate precisely the discoveries. Those first stages permit the scientists to recreate a map of the early settlement thanks to a final draft. Next, excavators dig assigned areas. Each time one of them distinguishes an object, he delicately free the item and then records its position. Subsequently, the object is unearthed before being stored and referenced for further examination. A correct preservation of those artefacts is primordial for later investigations.
Laboratory analyses mark the commencement of an intense period of intellectual investigations. First and foremost, archaeologists undertake visual inspections of the artefacts, sometimes with magnifiers or microscopes. That first stage permits the scientists to discover a worker's seal, hidden mark, or elements of decorations. During that period, the researchers may also notice particular clues, such as a technique of fabrication, thanks to the palpation of the item. Next, the archaeologists may require physico-chemical or biological analyses to unveil essential features of a piece, such as the existence of gunpowder to check whether a firearm has ever fired. The archaeologists can also utilize absolute dating techniques, such as accelerator mass spectrometry, to refine or confirm relative dating methods when the comparisons between previously identified and new items are too imprecise. Finally, one should keep in mind that the selection of a technique of laboratory analysis has to be carried out with great care because some methods demanded destructive tests, with therefore irreversible damages for an object.
The last stage for recreating cultural systems from pieces of artefacts involves a significant use of critical thinking. Actually, the archaeologists utilize various logical methods to reach conclusions about cultural remains. First, they can undertake ethnographic analogies, that is to say they try to interpret data through the comparison of their information with similar items or activities in contemporaneous societies. In the framework of historical archaeology, they can also examine literary analyses of written documents. Other scientists, called experimental archaeologists, endeavour to reproduce artefacts to rediscover the skills and techniques of early societies. Moreover, the holistic nature of the archaeological discipline entails the researchers to deduce the cultural systems from the comparison with other ancient societies. The main fields that are investigated are in relation with the social, administrative, military, political, artistic, economic, alimentary, or religious facets of societies. The collection of all those aspects of a society helps the archaeologists to redraw the perimeter of a cultural system, which encompasses all the learned and transmitted behaviours.
Finally, the reconstruction of a cultural system from a sample of its material artefacts implies various intellectual and practical skills and techniques. The value of those scientific endeavours lies in the recuperation of the material reflection of a society's worldview. Those material manifestations echo the expression of a society's ideas, ideals, and attitudes. In an evolutionary perspective, the knowledge of ancient cultural systems is even more precious for our present societies that they reveal the adaptive strategies of those societies to abate the selective pressure exerted by their ecosystems. Thus, those societies have been able to aggrandize the reproductive success of their individuals that have contributed to secure their continuity, to some extent. Consequently, with so holistic a panel of techniques and methods as well as the use of the scientific method, archaeologists demonstrate that anthropology of the past is all the more necessary in a period whereas the future of the human species is said to undergo a crisis.
Greetings!
Great essay! Here are a few editing tips:
They dig to find antique items then expose them in museums.
However, previously, the theoretical premise of archaeology needs to be reminded. - I'm not entirely sure what this sentence was meant to say. Perhaps, something like "First, the theoretical premise of archaeology must be understood."
and then establish a three-dimensional grid system to precisely locate the discoveries.
knowledge of the location of historically valuable sites or chance; [use semicolon] builders may come across early artefacts when digging.
Each time one of them distinguishes an object, he delicately frees the item and then records its position.
Good work!
Thanks,
Sarah, EssayForum.com
