Some questions --anthropology..?

Question

1..how do the anthropologists find the sites of ancient civilizations which are usually buried under so much earth?

2. how are anthropologists able to determine that the stones found at a site are actually tools used by homo erectus? what method do they use?

3. how are anthropologists able to guess with some accuracy how old a site is? what rule do they use?

Answer 1

1 - Luck, imaging, and educated guesses. Luck is self explanatory; someone finds something and tells someone, it gets back to anthropologist and away they go. Imaging; for instance, anthropologists are finding new Mayan sites because imaging technology allows them to see where the earth has been anciently unsettled.  Educated guesses; following migration patterns, looking around ancient water spots.

2 - Proximity to skeletal remains or remains of fire (any homo erectus stuff).  Also, dating is very helpful (carbon, C14)

3 - Carbon Dating, relative dating.

Answer 2

1. A good place to live is a good place to live. Most settlements require the same resources, so successive building will take place on to of older places. tn the Middle East where mud brick is used great tells show where towns were. It's also pretty hard to leave no trace of a civilization. Traces of roads often have reduced vegetation and straight lines in the dirt are noticable.

2. Generally, on a dig, debitage (waste from tool making) and stone tools are made from certain types of rock. This rock is selected for it's ability to be worked and doesn't pick up dirt as does the natural "country rock." Very primitive stone tools are "pebble tools." these have one end knapped away to make choppers or stone axes. Often you find plies of waste rock and then tools contained in a small area of occupation. Given, nature does break stone but not all at once and not in a systematic way. The Texas site is California has been put forward as a possible Homo Erectus site. Most discount this as "geofacts" rock that has been broken by nature are common in the region and none of the supposed tools have been found with any relation to occupation.

3. A site can be dated by the artifacts. While a dated coin is nice, styles of tools change as do the weapons that were used. In the West the Elko and Rose Spring projectile points have been found in numerous dated sites. You find a Rose Springs point and have a good idea when the site was used. There's also geologic events such a volcanic eruptions that can be dated. Find something below a known eruption and you'll know it's older that the eruption. Then there's carbon-14 dating, dating by tree rings, potassium argon dating, fossil magnetism that prove information.

Stratigraphy is often used. This says the oldest stuff is on the bottom. Consider the local landfill. At the top you find broken Ipods plastic bottles and CDs. Deeper you get aluminum pop tops, and cassettes. Still deeper the aluminum can is replaced by steel. 8-tracks are found as are glass bottles. Checking records you get a pretty good sense of the date for each level