1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology, with tech stuff from stuff. 2 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Say that everyone, and welcome to tech stuff. I'm Jonathan 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: Strickland and I and today we're going to talk about 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: arc archie, archie LOGI. Oh, come on, you've seen you've 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: seen Indiana Jones. You know what archaeology is. Oh yeah, 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: that's Xbox the Spot. Yeah, okay, that's Pirates. That well, 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: I will XP okay, never mind, last crusade, Last crusade, 8 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: I remember it now. Um so yeah, archaeology, of course. 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: And we're gonna be talking about not just the technology 10 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: using archaeology. We're going to talk a little bit about 11 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: an overview of what it is and how it evolved 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: over time, because that's kind of hand in hand with 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,959 Speaker 1: what is going on now in the field of archaeology. Right. 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: The technology being used today is some really vance stuff, 15 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: but for a long time that was not the case, 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: because archaeology is actually a fairly young field. So I 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: guess first we should explain what it is. I suppose sure, Yes, 18 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: it's it's the study of human activity, um, in the past. 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: In the past, yeah, not now right, So essentially it's 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: it's related to history, it's related to anthropology. Uh, it's 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: got some similarities with other disciplines, but this is mainly 22 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: all about studying what human life was like in the past, 23 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: based mostly on the stuff that our ancestors left behind. Well, 24 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: you know, kind of necessarily because what they didn't leave 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: behind we have very little record of. Yeah, exactly, we 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: can't study what wasn't left behind. That's actually very true, 27 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: not profound, but true. Um. But yeah, So so it's 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: a crossover with a lot of other disciplines, and lots 29 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: of other scientists will kind of work hand in hand 30 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: with archaeologists to to promote research for for both of 31 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: their fields. Oh sure, Yeah, it's interdisciplinary, so you can 32 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: have people from multiple disciplines and expertise is coming in 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: on a on a single project for multiple reasons, including 34 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: people who might not technically be considered scientists by everyone, 35 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: like a historians or um or artists. Right, yeah, you've 36 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: got you've got a lot of art historians and other 37 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: types of historians as well. In fact, archaeology as a 38 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: discipline kind of straddles the line between science and uh 39 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: a humanity. Uh. And it's sort of because the techniques 40 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: have been evolving over time as well. We're getting to 41 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: a point now where there are some archaeologists are using 42 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,959 Speaker 1: some very high tech, sophisticated techniques, whereas in the past 43 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: it was a lot more well Indiana Jones ish in 44 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: the sense that you were getting down and dirty with it, 45 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: although you were rarely chased by a giant rolling ball 46 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: or uh, you know, things of that nature that that 47 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: we've heard of personally. I mean, I'm sure that someone 48 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: out there, actually I'm not sure at all. Maybe if 49 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: they were lost in a giant game of mouse trap, right, 50 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: that's that's about as close as we can get. Um. 51 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: But okay, So, so the thing is is that Indiana 52 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: Jones was a terrible archaeologist, but it's not his fault. 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: He did not have access to all of the tools 54 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 1: that we have today, as dashing as he was and 55 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: as good as he was with a whip, which sounds 56 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: weird when I say it out loud, that he you know, 57 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: it's it's not his fault. Although a lot of the 58 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: things that you know that we kind of see him 59 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: doing in those films are things that archaeologists, archaeologists have 60 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: done and still do today, especially the predecessors of today's archaeologists. Well, 61 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, there's still a certain amount of 62 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: digging and brushing a little gently of things a little less. Uh. 63 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: There are fewer examples of um unauthorized tomb rating in 64 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: in established archaeology, which is really, when you get down 65 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: to it, what Indiana Jones was doing. Like if you 66 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: watch that first movie where he's trying to get the 67 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: idol and they being chased off by the indigenous people 68 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: of that jungle that he's in, it's pretty clear he 69 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: did not have full permission to go in there. Well, 70 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: and the entire kind of terrible notion of like it 71 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: this belongs in a museum as opposed to with the 72 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: people who created it is a little bit weird. But um, 73 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: but but that's actually stealing stuff from ancient cultures is 74 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: how archaeology began. Wow, well, I mean shouldn't be a surprise. 75 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,919 Speaker 1: You could argue that chemistry kind of started off with 76 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: people trying to figure out how to make worthless stuff 77 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: into very valuable stuff. Okay, So, so archaeology really originated 78 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: in Europe our circle than fourteen hundreds is when wealthy 79 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: Renaissance collectors started acquiring antiquities from from Greece and Rome 80 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: as art rather than artifacts. They weren't really interested in 81 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: the history of these items. They were like, this is 82 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: pretty I wanted in my house. Yeah, this is very 83 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: typical of the Renaissance, I mean Renaissance. Of course, the 84 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: whole Rebirth it was mostly about how Europe kind of 85 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: rediscovered this amazing civilization that existed a thousand years earlier. 86 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: But for between the time of the Fall of Rome 87 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: and uh and the Renaissance, there was a whole lot 88 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: of We're gonna just concentrate on not getting killed by 89 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: all those other people out there. And this is to 90 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: the point where they're finally saying, hey, look, we're smart, 91 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:21,600 Speaker 1: but there were smart people a long time ago to 92 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: their stuff, and let's stop burning books, read them instead. 93 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: Crazy um and and so some of these wealthy collectors 94 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: even even wrote really expansive travelogs and guides to ruins 95 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: to you know, tell their fellow rich people how to 96 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: go rob right. So again it still was not a 97 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: way of documenting something for a historical record. It was 98 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: more of guys, I found the best antique small. Uh, 99 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,559 Speaker 1: you just have to break in there and take whatever 100 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: you want, and it's all old and awesome. Yeah, and 101 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: eventually even bigger patrons of the arts as as much 102 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: as they were got into us, have been this and 103 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: drove really large excavations, um like the initial digs at 104 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: Pompeii Um, which was both victimized and preserved by Vesuvius's 105 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: explosion and what like circle like seventy nine CE. I've 106 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: been there, by the way. Yeah, fascinating place, absolutely, and 107 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: you can see where things have been perfectly preserved after 108 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: there were excavations where things have been buried with ash 109 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: and things of that nature. And it is amazing. All 110 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: those early excavations were due to basically the Queen of 111 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: Naples saying I want some statues, go get some from 112 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: that place. And I hear that the famous not actually 113 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: short Napoleon Bonaparte was interested in this kind of thing too. 114 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: He was of average height for his time, in fact, 115 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: not just for his time. I think it was like 116 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: five ft seven or five ft eight, so it was 117 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: actually six or five seven. Yeah, so a little bit 118 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: short for now, but totally average for the time. It's 119 00:06:54,560 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: a whole inconsistency in uh in English, Yeah, exact leads. 120 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: It's uh. That's another podcast and stuff you missed in 121 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: history class I'm sure has covered it, but at any rate, right, No, 122 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: So when he invaded Egypt in seventeen, he brought a 123 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: group of a hundred and seventy five scholars that we're 124 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: calling themselves the Institute of Egypt UM. And they came 125 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: with like a traveling library, scientific tools, measuring instruments, and 126 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: they published this huge illustrated tome called Description of Egypt. 127 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: I'm assuming the title was originally in French UM, but uh. 128 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: And and that helped launch kind of the first wave 129 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: of egypt Mania in the in the West. And we're 130 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: starting to see here actual scholarly work being applied to this, 131 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: as opposed to just I like this, I like the 132 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: stuff that these people made, get it for me. So 133 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: now we're starting to see this develop, at least informally, 134 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: into more of a scholarly discipline as opposed to to 135 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: tomb robbing. Right. Meanwhile, lots of other scholarly disciplines were advancing. 136 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: Geology and biology were both coming into their own. UM. 137 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: Charles L. Really helps spread UM this this modern geologic 138 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: system of uniformitarian stratigraphy UM. And this gave archaeologists a 139 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: kind of time scale on which date items based on sediment, 140 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: and that along with Charles Darwin's Origin of Species um 141 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: popularized evolution and and allowed prehistoric archaeology to actually become 142 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: a thing where people could actually look for uh, for 143 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: examples of prehistoric civilizations by the stuff they left behind. 144 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: And because of this other these other disciplines, they could 145 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: start to at least give a range of dates for 146 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: when those civilizations may have been active. Now, in these 147 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 1: early days, that range was not very precise, right, you 148 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: could coute not like when you're talking about geologic ages. Obviously, 149 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: mankind has only been around for a very tiny fraction 150 00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: of a geologic age, so your your precision is pretty 151 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: touch and go. But it could still at least give 152 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: some indication as to how old any particular finding would be. 153 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: And that was sort of the footholds of modern archaeology. Yeah, 154 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: and and we'll get a little bit into some of 155 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: those some of those geologic methods in just a minute. 156 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: But um uh Meanwhile, I think the real founding of 157 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: archaeology as a science was when Flinders Petrie published Methods 158 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: and Aims in Archaeology in nineteen o four, and that 159 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: described a systematic method for excavation that was that was 160 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: the basis I mean, it's kind of sort of a 161 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: little bit still the basis of how people go about 162 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: go about a dig and making sure that everything is 163 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: well documented and laid out in a way that you 164 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: can take enough notes and gather enough data. Because okay, 165 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: archaeology is a destructive science. Necessarily, as you're taking apart 166 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: a site, you are you are taking it apart. It's 167 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: not going to be the way that it was ever again. 168 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: It's it's the same thing for for crime scene forensics. 169 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: You know, it's and in the investigation of where everything 170 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: was and how it is laid out, you have to 171 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: move it around right, So you have to you have 172 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: to take a lot of really exhaustive initial measurements without 173 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: without disturbing as much as you possibly can, and then 174 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: you progressively get more and more involved. That's why those 175 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: notes are so important, because three or four steps down 176 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: the line is not going to resemble what it did 177 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: when you first got there. And uh in the United 178 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: States again early in the nineteen hundreds realized this and 179 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: passed the Antiquities Act, which prohibits the excavation or destruction 180 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: of archaeological materials on any kind of government land. And 181 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: I think that that's the point at which we have 182 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: like legal documentation that archaeology was a science. Yeah, so 183 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: this is that they're saying, there are people who will 184 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: be uh certified and ratified and allowed to do this 185 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: sort of stuff. Everyone else, keep your grubby myths off it, right, 186 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: That's essentially the message. And then just a little bit 187 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: further on, in the nineteen hundreds, archaeology became really popularized 188 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: through some huge discoveries like King Tut's tomb um, the 189 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: Sumerian royal tombs that are you know, these are huge 190 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: newspaper headline inducing kind of digs and and that's kind 191 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: of where we get the sort of pulp novels that 192 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,120 Speaker 1: led to Indiana Jones right exactly. This this kind of 193 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:23,719 Speaker 1: led to this sort of exotic you know, the heroic 194 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: explorer who is uncovering uh, you know, history itself and 195 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: discovering stuff that was long thought to have been gone forever. 196 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: And that that's a very romanticized version of what an 197 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: archaeologist really does. I think any archaeologist who has done 198 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: a lot of field work would be like, look, I 199 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: obviously love what I do and I am passionate about it. However, 200 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: most of the time, I'm not running around fighting bad 201 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: guys for access to precious historical artifacts. There's very few 202 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: saving hot babes involved. I mean, I would imagine probably 203 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 1: not as much whipping at least. I'm gonna leave the 204 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: rest of that alone. So at any rate, um, at 205 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: any rate, do we have time for something about Nazis? 206 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: We have to talk about this, okay, okay, So speaking 207 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: of Indiana Jones, the Nazis totally had a thing for archaeology. 208 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: I mean, this is a super legit story. I mean, 209 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: Indiana Jones is not a super legit story, but except 210 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: behind it, Yeah, the idea that Indiana Jones was competing 211 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: against Nazis to get access to certain things has a 212 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: basis and historical fact. Yes, um, Chuck wrote a really 213 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: good chuck of course of stuff you should know. Yeah, 214 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: it's a little show. You might, Yeah you might. You 215 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: might have listened to it once or twice. Has a 216 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,199 Speaker 1: great article on how stuff works called what did the 217 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: Nazis have to do with Archaeology? And uh and and 218 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: plumbed directly from that. So part of Hitler's entire plan um, 219 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: you know, as of his swearing in in ninety three, 220 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: was aligning the curriculum of German universities with the interests 221 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: of the Nazi Party, which we kind of touched on 222 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,199 Speaker 1: in our Heisenberg episode where off about physics. Yeah yeah, um. 223 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: And this was including the idea that their Germanic people 224 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: were descendants of this original Aryan master race. So he 225 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: sent teams of archaeologists excavate sites around the world that 226 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: he believed would help back up this theory. So in 227 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: other words, he's searching for evidence to prove the philosophy 228 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: that he was he was writing at the time. Yes, 229 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,439 Speaker 1: uh it failed, yeah a lot, basically, um, I mean. 230 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: And and they put they put a huge budget into this, 231 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: uh Himmler himself led a group called the Ancestral Heritage 232 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: Research and Teaching Society that went everywhere looking for this history. 233 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: Um that They also you know, dug up part of Poland, 234 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: hoping to prove that the Germans had lived there first 235 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: and had legit claim to the land after, you know, 236 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: after they invaded again, trying to search for evidence to 237 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 1: justify their actions. So not a not a bright chapter 238 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: in human history, obviously, but another example of how archaeology 239 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: was becoming a really important field of study. So let's 240 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: talk about some of the tools that are important for archaeologists, 241 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: things that that they rely on, and we should go 242 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: ahead and say maybe I should have said this earlier. 243 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: This is gonna be a two part episode. This first 244 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: part we're looking at some of the basic tools and 245 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: just the basic philosophies that guide archaeology and in um. 246 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: In our next episode, we're going to dive into more 247 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: detail about some of the more high tech tools that 248 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: have become more available recently. We'll get a little bit 249 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: into some of the high tech sort of science that 250 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: has that that from mid century has started to to 251 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: really develop how we can evaluate archaeological digs. Right, So 252 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: starting with the hand tools, the basic hand tools. Now, 253 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: keep in mind, archaeology is something where often we're looking 254 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: for evidence that has been at least partially, if not entirely, 255 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: covered up by soil and rocks and often sand, Like 256 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: when we're talking about the the Egyptian digs, they are 257 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: usually it's things that after hundreds of years, have been 258 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: covered up by by sand. So a lot of the 259 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: tools are basic hand tools meant to remove that kind 260 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: of stuff. Like, you don't want to get too many big, 261 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: heavy right, because you could just inadvertently damage very stuff 262 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 1: that you're looking for. So, but you do get some 263 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: stuff that is pretty heavy duty for hand tools. I mean, 264 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: it's not all like a very light brush where you 265 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: can gently brush the dirt away. Right. Well, that's by 266 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:32,520 Speaker 1: the time you get down to something that you that 267 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: you suspect might be an artifact, you're going to use 268 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: a very gentle brush. But until then, it's time to 269 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: put your back into it. So you've got some pick axes, 270 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: some shovels, hose, yeah, maddox. Maddox are tools that are 271 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 1: used to break up hard ground. So any of my 272 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: fellow farmer folks out there, I say fellow farmer folk 273 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: because as a kid, I used to have to do 274 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. I had no idea what that 275 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: thing is. Yeah, it's no, it's a hand tool. Use 276 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: it to break up hard ground. It's you know, if 277 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: if the shovel is not going to do it because 278 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: the ground is too hard, you bring in a mannequin, 279 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: you break it up, and then you use the shovel. 280 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: It just means making more work for yourself down the line. 281 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: Of course, you know, you have to have something to 282 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 1: move that stuff all the all the spoil away, right, 283 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: buckets and wheelbarrows, getting I mean, we're talking about lots 284 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: of physical labor here. Eventually you might get down to 285 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: a point where you're using something along the lines of 286 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: a trowel instead of a shovel, because you want to 287 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: be a little more precise. Perhaps you're starting to see 288 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: what could be the outline of perhaps like a wall 289 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: of a settlement, Sure, or even maybe encounter fragments of 290 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: pottery or something like that that you want to kind 291 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: of scoop up in preserve. Sure, and uh, of course 292 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: we'll talk about it more in the second half of 293 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: this episode. You want to be really careful about what 294 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: kind of contact you make with this stuff, right, because 295 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: some of the processes that you can use to identify 296 00:16:55,440 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: or to date these objects can be thrown off by 297 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: by human touch. Yeah, you could actually corrupt your own 298 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: data just by picking something up, So it's really important 299 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: to try and maintain that distance. On top of that, 300 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: of course, you do have the brushes to brush away 301 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: extra dirt. Other things that you might use to get 302 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 1: some dirt and and and sentiment off of an artifact 303 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: include dental tools, So you can use these little like 304 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: like dental picks to get to get dirt out of 305 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,199 Speaker 1: grooves and things like that. Uh So, so you know, 306 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: a lot of the reason why these early tools were 307 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: very general purpose or were repurposed from other disciplines was 308 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: because again archaeology was a young science and so not 309 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,919 Speaker 1: a lot of work had been had gone into developing 310 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: tools specifically for archaeology. Early on, they were essentially using 311 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: whatever else would do the job they needed done and 312 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: repurposing it. And and and I mean that still happens. 313 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: I've heard about people using you know, like pen knives 314 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: and chopsticks in the field, whatever happens to be lying 315 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: around it tends to be one of those things where 316 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 1: you know, there are tools out there that do the 317 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: ub really well. So there's not a whole demand to 318 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: start developing things specifically for archaeology. Doesn't mean that there 319 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: aren't companies that do it. There are, But you know, 320 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: if you're like, well, this is a relatively inexpensive tool 321 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: I can get that will do what I needed to do, 322 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: let's go with that. On top of that, you have things, 323 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: you know, like basic tools like line levels and plumbobs, 324 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: which you use to try and make sure that if 325 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: you're using other types of equipment that require level ground 326 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: that you're you've got that straight and we'll talk about 327 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: in the second episode. I'm so excited. Also for for 328 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: surveying purposes, are important tape measures obviously if you need 329 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: to start determining things like the size of a particular 330 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: artifact area or maybe it's even a house or a wall. Again, 331 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: these are things where you know you're gonna take these measurements, 332 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 1: that you can write all this stuff down as early 333 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: as you possibly can, so you can you can start 334 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: to form that image of what this site looked like originally, 335 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: you know, hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years ago. So, uh, 336 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:04,679 Speaker 1: interesting little tidbit I did not know until we started 337 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: to research this podcast. It turns out there are two 338 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: different styles of measuring depending upon the nature of the 339 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: site you're looking at. If you're looking at a prehistoric site, 340 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: you measure using the metric system, because that's what science does. Yeah, 341 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,120 Speaker 1: metric system is easy, right, I mean, it makes sense, 342 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: everything's in tens or hundreds, easy to deal with. Here 343 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: in America, that's not necessarily good enough. You know, we 344 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: don't like our you don't like our measurements to be easy. No, 345 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: that's ridiculous, would be silly. So here's the thing. Anything 346 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: that's of a historical time period, so prehistory versus history, 347 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: historical time period stuff tends to be measured using English 348 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: standard measure units like inches and feet because that's what 349 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: the people of the time we're using when they were 350 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,400 Speaker 1: building their stuff. Yeah, yeah, I mean especially here here 351 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: in the West, I I would imagine, and for most 352 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 1: ranges of history. Yeah, certain ranges of history, right, and 353 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: in other parts of the world where the English measuring 354 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: system would not have been introduced, then it's a little different. 355 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: But yeah, if you're if you're researching let's say you're 356 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: researching a an ancient Roman establishment in in in Britain 357 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: because the Romans had had Britain and you wanted to 358 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,120 Speaker 1: measure that, then uh, you know, that might be one 359 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: set of standards. And then let's say that you're looking 360 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,919 Speaker 1: at maybe it's something from the Middle Ages in Britain, 361 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: that would be a different set. So you know, it 362 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: all depends. But it's it's interesting to me that in general, 363 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: the prehistoric is in metric and the historic sites are 364 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: in English standard. So yeah, I didn't know that either. 365 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: That's some complicated and fascinating. Yeah, I wonder if there are. 366 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: I'm sure there are. I mean, there have to be 367 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: archaeologists who specialize in in certain types, but it makes 368 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 1: me wonder what their dinner parties are like. Um. There 369 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: are other tools that are often used, things like calipers, 370 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,719 Speaker 1: obviously to be able to pick things up without actually 371 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: touching them yourself. But also there's a tool called a 372 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: soil core, which is fairly unique to archaeology. I mean, 373 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: you can use it in geology too, but a soil 374 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: core is essentially a imagine a metal tube And what 375 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 1: you do with the smell tube is you shove it 376 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: into the ground and then you yank it back out 377 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 1: again and it pulls out a soil sample. Yeah, exactly. 378 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: And then you look at the stuff what you pulled out, 379 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: and you look to see if there's any evidence for artifacts, 380 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: organic matter, that kind of thing that could indicate the 381 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: presence of human settlement or whatever. And if you find it, 382 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: then that gives you an idea of all right, well, 383 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: this is definitely an area we need to look at 384 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: when we're doing our excavation. If you're you know, you 385 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: might be doing a few you would do lots of 386 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: soil samples obviously, but it might help you determine all right, 387 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: I think we're beyond the border now because none of 388 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: these core samples are coming back with anything, or maybe 389 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: that you're in a different area and you're thinking, oh, 390 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: settlement is actually larger than we first anticipated, because we're 391 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: actually finding quite a bit of stuff over here. It's 392 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: just that everything has overgrown to the point where we 393 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: never would have suspected it otherwise. So it's really cool stuff. 394 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,959 Speaker 1: So those are your basic hand tools, right, the stuff 395 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: that that archaeologists have been using in one form or 396 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: another for decades. You know, some some of these, some 397 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: of these are as old as as people going into 398 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: tombs to rob them. But so that kind of covers 399 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: the basic hand tools, you know, the stuff that in 400 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: some form or another has been around for like decades 401 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: or hundreds of years. And yeah, if you've been tomb 402 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: robbing this whole time, you probably used to shovel at 403 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: some point. And and technically shovels and brushes are technology, 404 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: Yeah they are. I mean we talk about how you know, 405 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: a lot of tech stuff is all about the higher 406 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: text things, but electron that we we do tend to 407 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: like every now and then revisit stuff that's older technology. 408 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: And while you know, on the face of it we 409 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: might dismiss it as it's just a tool, at one 410 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: time that was a world altering technology. So yeah, I 411 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: can imagine that for early farmers, shovels were pretty pretty big. 412 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,120 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Okay, so we've got those basic tools out 413 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: of the way, and before we move on, let's just 414 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: take a really quick break to thank our sponsor. All right, 415 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,160 Speaker 1: and we're back. So now we've talked about the basic tools, 416 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: all right, Lauren, let me let me give you a 417 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 1: little scenario. All right, Let's say that I have joined 418 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: an archaeological dig. Perhaps I've got one of those sort 419 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,400 Speaker 1: of eco tourism type things going on, or maybe I've 420 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: taken a class or something, or I don't know, maybe 421 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: my brain has been swapped with someone way smarter than 422 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: I am, and I've gone out and I've done this 423 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 1: archaeological dig and I found something and it looks really neat. 424 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: How do I tell how old it is? Well, okay, 425 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: Historically we relied on things like self dating, you know, 426 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,199 Speaker 1: like like some items like coins will be stamped with 427 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: a date, which is that's handy more or less reliable 428 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: as soon as assuming you know what the indigenous people's 429 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: dating system was, yes, and assuming that you can read 430 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: it clearly, and that they weren't lying right right, you know, 431 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: that could have been backdating their coins. I know, I 432 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: hate it when that happens. Um. And and also relative dating, 433 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: which is extrapolating the date of unknown items from the 434 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: known dates of self dated items. Right. So in other words, 435 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: you might be like you might think along the lines of, well, 436 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: this this settlement existed as far as we can tell 437 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: two hundreds something years before this other one did, and 438 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: we know the dates of this other one, so from 439 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: that we're going to extrapolate a lot of information, all right, 440 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: But that's also not always reliable because I mean, because 441 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 1: sediment patterns can change over the years. Um, you know, 442 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: looting and other explorations of the site could have moved 443 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,959 Speaker 1: stuff around or left more more recent things with older things. 444 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 1: And it really only works for for items about five 445 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: thousand years back for for you know, recorded history, right, 446 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:03,639 Speaker 1: So if you're wanting to look at stuff all the 447 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: way from the Stone Age, then that's not gonna cut it. No. However, 448 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: around the eighteen hundreds or so, um, if if you 449 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: were finding old stuff, you could start using things like 450 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: like clave arf, counting clave ARFs being an annual layer 451 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: of sedimentary rock that's created during wet and dry seasons 452 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: each year. Wow. So this is almost like a geological 453 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,120 Speaker 1: version of tree rings, but it's just depending upon those 454 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 1: wet dry seasons, right, interesting exactly. I mean you can 455 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: also use tree rings. Um. There you go. That's another 456 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: thing you could do. That's dender chronology. Um. And that's 457 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: you can use it to date pieces of wood pretty specifically. 458 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: I did, dude, I did date a few pieces of 459 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:46,199 Speaker 1: wood in my college. Yes, yeah, me too. It was 460 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: a yeah, you know, eventually you find the personalities out there, 461 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,840 Speaker 1: so stick with it people. We good luck, yeah, good luck. 462 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. This This entire section, by the way, is 463 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: titled how dating works, um, which cracked me up. And 464 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: but I'm sparing you the majority of the jokes that 465 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,640 Speaker 1: I made. Oh wait for it. So all of these 466 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: kind of kind of geological sort of things helped us 467 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: determine um lots of prehistorical artifacts timeline. Sure, but it 468 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: wasn't until we we didn't get any kind of specificity 469 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: about stuff like this until the nineteen forties. Um, that's 470 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,679 Speaker 1: when one Willard Libby developed the carbon dating process. All right, 471 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: and I know a little bit about carbon dating. I 472 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: understand that it actually requires that you compare two different 473 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: types of carbon against each other, and the differences between 474 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:41,200 Speaker 1: those two give you an indication of how old something is. 475 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: Is that right? That is exactly how it works, yes, um, 476 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: specifically Okay. So, so there's a radioactive isotope of carbon 477 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: called carbon fourteen. It has a half life of about 478 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: five thousand, seven hundred years, and it's really plentiful around earth. Um, 479 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,959 Speaker 1: living things absorb it, Plants take it in as as 480 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: part of carbon dioxide. Other living exeat plants, circle of life, 481 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: so on and so forth. Exactly. But so you've got 482 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: this radioactive isotope, and then you've got, um, the stable 483 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: normal carbon, which is carbon twelve, two different types of carbon. 484 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: You have carbon fourteen in carbon twelve, right, And the 485 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: ratio of these two in the air and in living 486 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: things is pretty much constant, even though the fourteen keeps 487 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: decaying into carbon twelve. Okay, So if that ratio is constant, 488 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: then that suggests to me that in fact, these living 489 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: things are getting new sources of carbon fourteen because otherwise 490 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: the ratio would get out of whack after a while. Right, right, Well, 491 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: we we get carbon fourteen because of cosmic rays hitting 492 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: particles in the atmosphere and and creating it and stuff 493 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: and things, um so, But so we breathe it in constantly. 494 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: It's in our bodies, and it decays slowly over time 495 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: into carbon twelve. Okay, So as long as we're alive, 496 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: we keep getting carbon fourteen, correct, and we maintain that ratio. 497 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: But after we die, we stopped taking in carbon fourteen. 498 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: So therefore, if you compare the amount of carbon fourteen 499 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: to carbon twelve in an artifact, in an organic artifact, anyway, 500 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: you can get a pretty good idea of how old 501 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: it is. I see. So because you know that carbon 502 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: fourteen decays over time into carbon twelve in a study 503 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 1: in constant right, and you know what the ratio is 504 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: in general between carbon twelve and carbon fourteen for a 505 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,880 Speaker 1: living object. By checking that new ratio, you can kind 506 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: of extrapolate how old, or at least how long this 507 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: thing has been dead more or less. Yeah, it's it's 508 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: not a really I mean, it's more precise than previous 509 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: methods were, but it's still giving you a range, it's 510 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: still giving you a range, and there's some downfalls um. 511 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: For example, like we kind of mentioned earlier, UM, if 512 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: you touch organic material um to the object in question, 513 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: you know, like like your hand being organic material um, 514 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: then you can contaminate that sample. So in other words, 515 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: you could get a false reading from it because you've 516 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: actually some of your carbon may have actually corrupted it. 517 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 1: Now what I think one of the things I think 518 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: is interesting here is how, once again, anyone anyone listening 519 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: to this podcast who has watched any kind of movies 520 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: that are about uh, not just archaeology, but anytime you're 521 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: having characters who are digging up an old side or something. 522 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: Carbon dating was like the the the blanket statement to 523 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: find out how old anything was, whether it was organic 524 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: or not. I'm thinking specifically of there was some horrible 525 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: science fiction film. It was one of the ones that 526 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: m ST three k riffed on, where their solution to 527 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,480 Speaker 1: figuring out how old this clearly non organic thing was 528 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: was through carbon dating, and I thought, I don't think 529 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: that works the way you think it works. It Maybe 530 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: spaceships are made from carbon, and I don't, yeah, from alive. 531 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: So that's something true. UM and and also I mean okay, 532 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: so so you can't really do it with with very 533 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: small samples, although improved techniques are helping to change that, 534 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: UM and the data can be a little bit off 535 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: for for newer samples. UM And they can also be 536 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,719 Speaker 1: off for anything over fifty years old because the too 537 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: much of the carbon has degraded to really accurate. Idea, 538 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: so basically more than years old, right, so anything that's 539 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: younger than fifty years old, but not so young as 540 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: to have happened like within the recent past. So that's 541 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: what it's good for. So let me ask you this, Uh, 542 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: large samples obviously something that you need to do. I 543 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: imagine that this also requires that you have to move stuff, 544 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: because I don't I can't imagine there being like a 545 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: carbon dating kit that you drag out with you to 546 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 1: the archaeological site that you just pick up an artifact 547 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: and you scan it and everything's cool. Another thing you 548 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: have to watch out for. UM there have been periodic 549 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: fluctuations in the ratio of carbon twelve carbon fourteen over 550 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 1: the millennia um and and we're gathering more data about 551 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: that all the time. UM. But you know it's it's 552 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,719 Speaker 1: something that has to be taken into consideration. Right, So 553 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: that could mean that something that you had previously or 554 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: at least you thought you had previously previously established to 555 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: a particular time might in fact be from a different 556 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: time because of one of those fluctuations be nudged earlier later. Um, 557 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: Robert and Julie over a stuff to blow your mind 558 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: did a whole episode on this back in April April 559 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,120 Speaker 1: to be precise, called how old is that artifact in 560 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: the window? Um? And it talks a little bit more 561 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: about the process if you're if you're curious to learn more, 562 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 1: and also about some of the controversies that have come 563 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: up with specific artifacts due to all of these kind 564 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 1: of weird behavior exceptions to the rule type of thing. Absolutely. Now, 565 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: I understand there are some other techniques that are similar 566 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: to carbon dating, but they're not using carbon, which would 567 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: allow archaeologists to actually date non organic stuff like rocks 568 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: and minerals, right or spaceships, um. Right, because it clearly 569 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: Indian Jones four taught us, Oh no, it's here, um. Yeah. No. 570 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: Other radioactive isotopes can be used for basically the same job, 571 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:09,000 Speaker 1: Like a potassium forty is pretty good uh, you can. 572 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: You can compare the the argon in minerals and rocks 573 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: to to the amount of potassium forty and that will 574 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: give you a similar effect. And that chronology can can 575 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 1: date things back to like two million years. So so 576 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: that's how we've gotten done a lot of um paleo archaeology, right, yeah, 577 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: because paleontology and archaeology are similar disciplines but not exactly 578 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: the same thing. So okay, so that makes sense, all right. 579 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: So Unfortunately that the the thing about all of this, 580 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: All of this always got toring me down, I know, right, 581 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: science bringing us down. Unfortunately, all of these methods have 582 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: been basically screwed over forever by the fact that we 583 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: have nuclear weapons and reactors. Oh right, I guess those 584 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,240 Speaker 1: could kind of influence the amounts of radiation that you 585 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: would find in any given sample. And you know, so 586 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,120 Speaker 1: I'm sure that future you know, aliens or human populations 587 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,120 Speaker 1: or whatever could find a way around it. They're probably 588 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 1: going to be pretty clever, right, Yeah, they'll have a 589 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 1: holidayck and they'll the person will just appear and say, oh, yeah, 590 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: I was around at this time, but until then, man, 591 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: science shucks, always bringing us down. Now, I gotta ask 592 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: you about this because I see it in the notes. 593 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 1: I don't know what this is. It's um thermoluminescence. So 594 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: if I have to guess, I would say it's got 595 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: something to do with heat and light. That is entirely correct, 596 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: all right. So basically, some pottery includes crystaline materials like 597 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,160 Speaker 1: quartz um that when heated, release electrons that were trapped 598 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 1: in defects in the crystal structure. And that means that 599 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: during the initial firing of a piece of pottery um, 600 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: it kind of sets this quartz clock to zero. UM 601 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: be cause the the electrons got into those defects and 602 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: in the crystals through um, through cosmic rays, through the 603 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,880 Speaker 1: absorption of electromagnetic radiation, or or through the the the 604 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: effects that probably the piezo electric effects of electromatic magnetic 605 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: radiation on the crystals. We'll have a lot more to 606 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: say about piezo electric effects in part two of this show. 607 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,319 Speaker 1: We will um and also in another episode that we're 608 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: according to. That's right, it's we're all about the piezo 609 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,720 Speaker 1: electric effect up here. They're everywhere. So so over the years, 610 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:35,799 Speaker 1: defects absorb electrons at a pretty constant rate, and so 611 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 1: if you find a bit of pottery that has that 612 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: has previously been fired in the ground, dig it up 613 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: and reheat it, and then measure the amount of electrons 614 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,640 Speaker 1: that you get off of it. You can date kind 615 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: of sort of where like like how long it has 616 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: existed since it's been originally fired. That's pretty incredible. I mean, 617 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: it's you know, it's an interesting, very novel approach to 618 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,440 Speaker 1: trying to go around finding how old something is. Uh. 619 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: And this is just an example of the ingenuity that 620 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 1: people have applied to this discipline to be able to 621 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: learn more about where we come from and the ancestors 622 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: that came before us who didn't leave any written records, 623 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,720 Speaker 1: and you know, how do we know more about them? 624 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:16,759 Speaker 1: This is exactly how we have to go about it, 625 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 1: which is why I find it so fascinating. Anytime you 626 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: you're talking about unraveling a mystery, obviously that that arouses curiosity, right, 627 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,439 Speaker 1: So not a big surprise that we had a bunch 628 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: of pulp action heroes kind of come out of this, 629 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: including the beloved Indiana Jones. Let's not let's not even 630 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:38,720 Speaker 1: you know acknowledge the fourth movie. Yeah no, No, Chyltte 631 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,320 Speaker 1: Booth was never a part never a part of Indiana Jones. 632 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 1: Uh bad dates. All right? So um, anyway, that wraps 633 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: up our first episode about archaeology, but we're going to 634 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 1: do another episode where we're talking about some of the 635 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,400 Speaker 1: newer technology that's being used in the field and how 636 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:01,080 Speaker 1: it's really making this a truly exciting discipline for the 637 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: twenty one century. Not that it wasn't exciting before, but 638 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,799 Speaker 1: now we're actually gonna have chances to, at least in 639 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: a virtual way, see what these places look like. It's 640 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,279 Speaker 1: exciting in a much nerdier way, which is why I 641 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,400 Speaker 1: get all excited at the end of the episode. So guys, 642 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions for future topics that we 643 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,520 Speaker 1: can cover here on tech Stuff, I recommend you let 644 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: us know. How do you do that? You ask, Well, 645 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: here's a way. Send us an email our addresses tech 646 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,879 Speaker 1: Stuff at Discovery dot com. Or if you are a 647 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 1: social media guru, then you can jump onto Facebook or 648 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: Twitter and hey, what's that blogging thing that all the 649 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: kids are doing now? Humbler tumbler and find us at 650 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 1: tech Stuff hs W M Lauren and I will talk 651 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: to you again really soon for more on this and 652 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics because it has staff works dot 653 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 1: com