99CHAPTER 5
Field Methods in Archaeology
and Paleoanthropology
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Are Human Physical and Cultural
Remains Always Found Together?
Archaeological sites are places containing the cultural re-
mains of past human activity. Sites are revealed by the pres-
ence of artifacts as well as soil marks, changes in vegetation, and irregularities of the earth’s
surface. While skeletons of recent peoples are frequently associated with their cultural remains,
as we go back in time, the association of physical and cultural remains becomes less likely. Fos-
sils are defined as any surviving trace or impression of an organism from the past. Fossils some-
times accompany archaeological sites, but many of them predate the first stone tools or other
cultural artifacts. The human cultural practice of burying the dead, starting about 100,000 years
ago, changed the nature of the fossil record, providing relatively complete skeletons as well as
information about this cultural practice.
How Are the Physical and Cultural
Remains of Past Humans Investigated?
Archaeologists and paleoanthropologists investigate the past
by excavating sites where biological and cultural remains
are found. Unfortunately, excavation results in the site’s de-
struction. Thus every attempt is made to excavate in such a
way that the location and context of everything recovered,
no matter how small, are precisely recorded. Through care-
ful analysis of the physical and cultural remains recovered
through excavation, scientists make sense of the data and
enhance our knowledge of the biology, behavior, and beliefs
of our ancestors. The success of an excavation also depends
upon cooperation and respect between anthropologists who
are investigating the past and the living people connected to
the sites and remains being studied.
How Are Archaeological
or Fossil Remains Dated?
Calculating the age of physical and cultural remains is an es-
sential aspect of interpreting the past. Remains can be dated
by noting their stratigraphic position, by measuring the
chemicals contained in fossil bones, or by association with
other plant, animal, or cultural remains. More precise dating
methods rely upon advances in the disciplines of chemistry
and physics that use properties such as rates of decay of ra-
dioactive elements. These elements may be present in the re-
mains themselves or in the surrounding soil. By comparing
dates and remains across a variety of sites, anthropologists
can make inferences about human origins, migrations, and
technological developments. Sometimes the development of
a new dating technique leads to an entirely new interpreta-
tion of physical and cultural remains.