Archaeology

When we were doing our Archaeology unit, we did a series of Socratic seminars. Socratic seminars are almost like debates. The seminars included topics like What point of view should be used during archaeology and who does the artifacts belong to. In the document below, I wrote about my stand on both of the topics

Sophia Rosemann

December 12, 2012

Archaeology isn’t All Perfect

Archaeology is a social science that studies human origin. Archaeologists excavate artifact to piece together an understanding of past human life. The are many controversial topics about the study. Some of these topics are about who the artifacts belong to and which perspective should be used.(Tierney,1)(Van Blarcon,1-2) These topics, and many others, have been debated around the world for many years. They have even been debated in my classroom.

We’ve debated about what perspective archaeologists should have. There is the scientist perspective (cares only about education), the entrepreneur perspective (only cares about the money), and there’s the culturalists perspective ( wants to preserve the land and the artifacts in it). (Van Barcon, 1-2) I ,myself, believe in the scientist perspective. I think that it is okay to procure artifacts if it is for educational purposes. Artifacts can be learned from, so lets learn from them,

There was also a debate on the whole Knossos study. Many thought, and still think, that the study was subjective, modernized and fake. There was very little evidence found, but a lot of stories made up from the little pieces. (Beard, 1-2) I mostly agree with that statement. I think that he was subjective because most of the data came from his own vision of the data. Also, I believe it’s modernized because the hut he built looks like a modern (1900) hut, not a hut from the bronze age. (Beard, 1)

The seminars really helped me to establish my view points on these controversial archaeology topics. I did a really good job talking and putting my views out there for the whole class to think about. By hearing what others had to say, I was able to create more arguments about the topic. By listening to others, you can get a better understanding of their view. At the next seminar, I want to speak in the first round rather than in the second round. I feel like it’ll let me figure out my own thoughts.

Bibliography

Beard, Mary. “Knossos: Fakes, Facts, and Mystery.” Rev. of Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism by Cathy Gere. The New York Review of Books. 13 August 2001

“Should Ancient Artifacts Return Home?” Science Buzz. 19 July 2005. 7 November 2011

(http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/should_ancient_artifacts_return_home)

Tierney, John. “A Case of Antiquities for ‘Finders Keepers’”. New York Times on the Web.

17 November 2009. 7 November 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/

science/17tier.html?_r=2>.

Van Blarcon, Jacqueline. “Artifacts and Native Burial Rights: Where Do We Draw the Line?”

Hohonu: A Journal of Academic Writing 5.1 (2007):n pag. Web 7 November 2011