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Archaeology qestions & answers
Archaeology qestions & answers
Archaeology qestions & answers
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The article Archaeology, Ethics, and Character: Using Our Cultural Heritage to Teach Citizenship by Moe, Coleman, Fink, and Krejs is dedicated to an important social theme – teaching ethics and character. The authors point out that ethical considerations are of great significance in regards to archaeology and state that archaeology should be viewed as an important tool of forming public consciousness, ethical values, and respect for heritage and culture of different ethnic groups. Thus, the analysis of the argument presented in the article as well as the paper’s content will make it possible to evaluate the authors’ ability to support their points of view and persuade the audience.
The identification of the argument highlighted in the article of Moe et al. will help acquire a better understanding of the authors’ opinions and ideas, which they aimed to present in their work to convince the reader of the correctness of their thinking. After paying readers’ attention to the importance of relationship between archaeology and ethics, the authors argue that ethical issues related to archaeology are not regulated by law only, and their role in preserving and respecting cultural diversity should not be diminished. Indeed, they believe that archaeology must be used as an efficient tool of enhancing ethical behavior in research, protecting
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To confirm their claim concerning ethical values of archaeology, Moe et al. highlighted the positive changes concerning museums’ contribution to preserving sites, dealing with ethical issues that surround burials, and respecting the feelings of indigenous people, African Americans, and/or other groups
The second question frequently asked regarding Schliemann’s legacy examines his motives and skill as an excavator: was Heinrich Schliemann a good archaeologist? This question has two sides. First, did Schliemann use the best techniques and technology available to him at time of his first excavation? Second, did he have the same values that other archaeologists have?
Imagine that one piece of history that is taken from a town. This piece of history tells l people how this town was built and all the important people that were apart of the community. “Returning Antiquities to Their Countries of Origin” by Joyce Mortimer can many people about how objects are getting taken from Museums. They should be returned immediately. There are so many artifacts out there that could be so important to people, and if someone can just imagine what it would feel to have one of the most important object taken from a museum and to be never returned again. Many people enjoy seeing these objects so why are they being taken?
“Skeletons in the Closet”, written by Clara Spotted Elk, is a well-built argument, but it can be enhanced to become immensely effective. Firstly, Elk’s position is effective in obtaining her purpose and connecting her audience to it, because she includes a broad scope and background of the problem in the first few paragraphs. She describes the amount of Indian skeletons preserved and contained by American museums, through the use of data and statistics. For instance, Elk states: “we found that 18,500 Indian remains…are unceremoniously stored in the Smithsonian’s nooks and crannies” (13-15). By using this data, the background of the argument is illustrated to assist the audience in understanding her argument. Now, by knowing this statistic, readers can connect with Elk and her assertion, since we realize that there are plenty of skeletons that
Few Archaeologists have been said to have shaped modern Archaeology. Bruce Trigger was one of those Archaeologists. Before his death in 2006, he published a great number of works that influenced professionals and students alike on an international stage (Fagan 1). His open-minded yet fact-based approach to archaeology changed the way many archaeologists approach their work in the modern era.
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
A prehistoric archaeologist’s goal, as per Scupin and DeCorse (2013:5), is to decipher the beliefs and mindset of past societies, particularly early inhabitants of Europe and America, through their material culture, such as the cave art found in Lascaux. This cave, located in southern France, contains what is believed to be one of the oldest artistic representations of wild animals and art; it has captured the interest of numerous scientists, philosophers and historians, all of whom wish to make sense of these enigmatic images (Lippit 2002:20). With the multitude of minds working to decode these images, it comes as no surprise that there are a variety of unique interpretations of these paintings today. Most explanations are formulated through the extrapolation of an analysis conducted upon a specific scene within the larger picture, and seek to understand the ethos of the species painting it. More specifically, the study of the ‘accident scene’ has led to two prominent explanations, which state that these paintings depict the challenges of life, or have religious significance to healing or the hunt. However, both articles indirectly agree that these paintings represent the beginning of humanity’s self-awareness.
...otion to the cause of maintaining knowledge is strong, and unhampered by personal ambition or pride. They possess a sensitivity and reverence for the Memorabilia, and knowledge in general, that allowed them to maintain and protect the sacred documents. However, it is their sense of responsibility towards the products of this knowledge, and their understanding of the dangers such knowledge could present, that makes them the ideal protectors and regulators of knowledge. While they welcome anyone who wishes to study the Memorabilia with open arms, for they love knowledge too, they also hope to imbue knowledge-seekers with foresight and an ethical obligation to the products of that knowledge, in hopes that scientists with a conscience might avoid another Flame Deluge.
Suzan Harjo uses ethos, pointing out how digging up and selling bodies and artifacts of a human culture is ethically wrong or immoral; pathos, telling how there are no words to describe the shame that Indian families feel when their ancestors and relatives are dug up, decapitated, and experimented on; and finally logos, showing us how illogical digging bodies up is, what if it was some culture doing this to, say, white burial sites. What would we do, we would feel like starting a fight, right?
In “Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? ”, Kwame Anthony Appiah begins by pointing out that some of the museums of the world, particularly in the West, have large collections of artefacts and objects which were robbed from developing and poor countries. He then raises a question: who owns these cultural patrimony and properties? Our first answer may be that since they make up the cultural heritage of a people, they belong to the people and culture from whom they were taken. Appiah has doubt about this and argues that if some cultural artefacts are potentially valuable to all human beings, they should belong to all of humanity. He thinks that when they make contribution to world culture, they should be protected by being made available to those who would benefit from experiencing them and put into trusteeship of humanity.
This week in my science class, Reading and Writing Science, we studied Archeology. Archeology is a field that requires the background information of history and the scientific methods of science. This profession, like most others, is very susceptible to the dangerous of human error. Through my own experience in class after viewing seven, foreign pictures, I have learnt that archeology has to do almost entirely with human observations and perspectives. After a body or an artifact is dug up, it is the job of archeologists to figure out as much as they can about the different objects. Because humans are not omnipotent creatures, sometimes they are wrong in their assumptions and conclusions on the history of these artifacts. After revisiting the pictures and being told the story and professional findings of each one, I too found there were errors in my observations; sometimes I omitted some artifacts and made unknown prejudice or cultural assumptions on the deceased individuals, which in turn caused me to interpret the evidence incorrectly.
American Anthropological Association. (2009, February). Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Retrieved March 09, 2012, from American Anthropological Association: http://www.aaanet.org/issues/policy-advocacy/Code-of-Ethics.cfm
As aforementioned, the appearance of pseudoarchaeology may have arisen out of the nationalist dogma of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when archaeology was used to construct national identities and give various groups legitimacy (Dzino 2012 p.180). This can be identified throughout Europe, including the construction of Bosnian identity. At the museum complex at Sarajevo, which opened in 1913, there is no evidence of the 400 years of Ottoman rule over the area. This history was omitted to distance the newly established Austro-Hungarian rule from the Turks (Dzino 2012 p.182). Furthermore, Nazi Germany also adopted archaeology for political gain as well as for ideological gain. In 1941, archaeologist Hans Reinerth and his colleagues went on an expedition to Greece, and claimed to have found new evidence to show that there was Indogermanic migration to Greece during the Neolithic period (Arnold 1990 p.467). This was used to serve as proof of German superiority, as ‘advanced’ civilisation radiated out of the Mediterranean - not Northern Europe (Ibid). These examples aren’t necessarily true of pseudoarchaeology, as they are carried out by experts and contain some semblance of truth. However, the omission and distortion of facts (to pursue a articular purpose) is shared by
SHA, and other archaeological societies, institutions, scholars and archaeologists find it hard to conduct or even to get involved in such shows that are produced for the entertaining of fans and also for gaining revenue. The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is working on clearing-house project that will help in building public awareness about archaeology and the way it is practiced, therefore the project is seeking input from professionals and the interested public, in order to share and contribute information and
Lawrence S. Cunningham, John J. Reich. Culture and values: a survey of the humanities. USA:Wadsworth Publishing. 2009. PRINT.
middle of paper ... ... Although subject to change in different cultures, the societal norm of placing an ethical code helps us to set the “right” amount of boundaries in areas of knowledge, including the arts and the natural sciences. Like I said before, there are many complications to this as both scientists and artists are put in situations where they must face the fine line between having a scientific/artistic role or ethical role in creating opportunities for knowledge. Works Cited McKie, Robin.